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Translated Texts for Historians

300-800 AD is the time of late antiquity and the early middle ages: the
transformation of the classical world, the beginnings of Europe and of Islam,
and the evolution of Byzantium. TTH makes available sources translated
from Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, Georgian, Gothic and Armenian.
Each volume provides an expert scholarly translation, with an introduction
setting texts and authors in context, and with notes on content, interpretation
and debates.

Editorial Committee

Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford

Averil Cameron, Keble College, Oxford

Marios Costambeys, University of Liverpool

Carlotta Dionisotti, King’s College, London

Peter Heather, King’s College, London

Robert Hoyland, University of Oxford

William E. Klingshirn, The Catholic University of America

Michael Lapidge, Clare College, Cambridge

John Matthews, Yale University

Neil McLynn, Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Richard Price, Heythrop College, University of London

Claudia Rapp, Institut fiir Byzantinistik und Neograzistik, Universitat Wien

Judith Ryder, University of Oxford

Raymond Van Dam, University of Michigan

Michael Whitby, University of Birmingham

Ian Wood, University of Leeds

General Editors

Gillian Clark, University of Bristol
Mark Humphries, Swansea University
Mary Whitby, University of Oxford

Front cover drawing: A group of bishops as depicted in the codice Emilanense, Biblioteca de
El Escorial, Madrid (drawn by Gail Heather)

A full list of published titles in the Translated Texts for Historians
series is available on request. The most recently published are
shown below.

Bede: On Genesis

Translated with introduction and notes by CALVIN B. KENDALL

Volume 48: 371pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-088-1

Nemesius: On the Nature of Man

Translated with introduction and notes by R. W. SHARPLES and P. J. VAN DER EIJK

Volume 49: 283pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-132-1

Sources for the History of the School of Nisibis

Translated with introduction and notes by ADAM H. BECKER

Volume 50: 217pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-161-1

Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 553:
with related texts on the Three Chapters Controversy

Translated with an introduction and notes by RICHARD PRICE

Volume 51, 2 vols, 384pp + 360pp, 2009, ISBN 9781846311789

Three Political Voices from the Age of Justinian: Agapetus - Advice to the Emperor,
Dialogue on Political Science, Paul the Silentiary - Description of Hagia Sophia

Translated with notes and an introduction by PETER N. BELL

Volume 52: 249pp, ISBN 978-1-84631-209-0

History and Hagiography from the Late Antique Sinai

DANIEL F. CANER, with contributions by SEBASTIAN BROCK, RICHARD M. PRICE
and KEVIN VAN BLADEL

Volume 53: 346pp, ISBN 978-1-84631-216-8

Orosius: Seven Books of History against the Pagans

Translated with introduction and notes by A. T. FEAR

Volume 54: 456pp., 2010; ISBN 978-1-84631-473-5 cased, 978-1-84631-239-7 limp

The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity

Translated by GEOFFREY GREATREX, with ROBERT PHENIX and CORNELIA HORN;
introductory material by SEBASTIAN BROCK and WITOLD WITAKOWSKI

Volume 55: forthcoming 2010; ISBN 978-1-84631-493-3 cased, 978-1-84631-494-0 limp

Bede: On the Nature of Things and On Times

Translated with introduction and notes by CALVIN B. KENDALL and FAITH WALLIS

Volume 56: 371pp., 2010, ISBN 978-1-84631-495-7

For full details of Translated Texts for Historians, including prices and
ordering information, please write to the following:

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4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZU, UK (Tel +44-[0] 151-794 2233,
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Translated Texts for Historians
Volume 26

Lives of the
Visigothic Fathers

Translated and edited by
A. T. FEAR

Liverpool

University

Press

First published 1997
Liverpool University Press
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool, L69 7ZU

This edition 2011

The author’s rights have been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A British Library CIP Record is available.

ISBN 978-0-85323-582-8 limp

Set in Times by
Koinonia, Manchester
Printed in the European Union by
Marston Digital

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

vii

Map

viii

INTRODUCTION

Translator’s Notes

xxxix

KING SISEBUT

Life and Martyrdom of Saint Desiderius

BRAULIO OF SARAGOSSA

The Life of St Aemilian the Confessor, called the hooded

[PAUL THE DEACON]

The Lives of the Fathers of Merida

ST ILDEFONSUS OF TOLEDO

On the Lives of Famous Men

107

[VALERIUS OF ELBIERZO]

The Life of St Fructuosus of Braga

123

Bibliography

145

Index

161

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the participants of the Mediber internet group, members
of the Department of Classics at the University of Keele, Gillian Clark and
Roger Wright of the University of Liverpool, Peter Heather of University
College, London, and Georgina Olivetto of the University of Buenos Aires
for their generous help in the creation of this book. The errors which remain
are, of course, entirely my own responsibility.

ABBREVIATIONS

Analecta Bollandiana

AeA

Archivo espanol de Arqueologia

BRAH

Boletin de la Real Academia de la Historia

Dial

Dialogues

DVI

The Lives of Famous Men

The Glory of the Confessors

The Glory of the Martyrs

History of the Franks

History of the Goths

ICERV

Inscripciones cristianas de la Espana romana y visigoda
(ed. J. Vives, Barcelona 1942)

IHE

Inscripciones hebraicas de Espana (eds F. Cantera Burgos and
J. M. Millas Vallicrosa, Madrid 1956)

Leges Visigothorum (ed. K. Zeumer, Hannover 1902)

Patrologia Latina

PLS

Patrologia Latina Supplementum

REE

Revista de Estudios extremenos

Settimane

Settimane di studio del Centro Italiano di studi sull’Alto
Medioevo

Life of the Fathers

VPE

Life of the Meridan Fathers

VSA

Life of St Aemilian

VSF

Life of St Fructuosus

VSM

Life of St Martin

Church councils and their numbers have been italicised with any canons
referred to left in Roman type thus: 3 Toledo 4

Map of Spain showing places mentioned in the text

INTRODUCTION

An Arab chronicler tells us that when Musa ibn-Nusayr, the conqueror
of Visigothic Spain, returned to Damascus and was asked by the Caliph
what had struck him most about the country he had subjugated he
replied, ‘The effeminacy of the princes’. This picture of the Visigothic
domination of the Iberian peninsula as a period of barbarism and
decadence intervening between the glories of Roman Spain and
Caliphate of Cordoba has long coloured the histories of the period. 1
Recently however there has been a greater appreciation of the
achievements of the Visigoths. These were considerable not only in
terms of the intellectual achievements of the period, but also the
creation of a political system whose stability is all the more apparent if
it is contrasted with the kingdom’s northern neighbour, Merovingian
Gaul.

The architect of Visigothic Spain as it was known in the times the
texts translated here were written was King Leovigild. Leovigild was
made joint ruler of the Visigothic kingdom by his brother Liuva in AD
568 and became sole ruler in AD 572. He did not come to the throne
in a prosperous hour. His realm had been racked by a civil war between
Liuva’s predecessor, Athanagild, and the king from whom he had seized
the throne, Agila. Athanagild when launching his rebellion in Seville
had called on Byzantine assistance and the emperor Justinian seeing an
opportunity to further his dream of re-establishing the Roman Empire
despatched troops to aid him. With this East Roman help Athanagild
was able to beat off initial attempts to crush his rebellion and drive
Agila back north to Merida. However he was unable to deliver a
decisive blow against his king and in the ensuing stand-off Athanagild’s
Byzantine ‘allies’ busily set about re-establishing a province of
Mauretania II centred on Cartagena. This may in fact have consisted of
a group of key cities rather than a continuous strip of occupied territory.
It was probably the obvious threat posed by the Byzantines to continued
Visigothic supremacy in Spain which led the supporters of Agila to
murder him and declare for Athanagild. Athanagild then turned on his
‘allies’ but while retaking some towns was unable to expel the

1 Shaw [1906] is particularly notorious however this opinion is not dead - see Glick
[1979].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Byzantines from the peninsula: 2 Mauretania II was to remain a feature
of the Iberian political landscape until its final reconquest by Suinthila
in AD 624. Other areas of the peninsula were also outside Gothic
control. The largest of these was the Kingdom of the Sueves centred in
the North West of Spain. However Cantabria and parts of La Rioja were
ruled by an independent senate, Sabaria (probably located in Zamora)
was also in rebellion and a further statelet existed in the North West
centred around Orense run by the ‘leading man of the place,’ a certain
Aspidius. To the south Cordoba had used the war between Athanagild
and Agilato establish its independence and a similar situation obtained
in the Orospeda mountains in the Andalusian Corderillo. Disintegration
in Spain was not Athanagild’s only legacy to the politics of western
Europe. His daughter Brunhilda was married to the Frankish King
Sigibert and henceforth played an active and colourful part in Frankish
politics until her death in AD 613. 3

Leovigild’s main aim as king was to weld together his disintegrating
realm and this he pursued with vigour. AD 570 and 571 saw the king
campaigning against the Byzantines in the south and the liberation of
Medina Sidonia from East Roman rule. The following year the rebel
town of Cordoba and its possessions were brought inside the kingdom
once more. These southern campaigns may well have been to arrest
further Byzantine attempts at expansion. By AD 573 Leovigild thought
his southern borders secure enough to march north. He first successfully
turned his attention to the re-incorporation of Sabaria into the kingdom, 4
in AD 574 most of Cantabria was reconquered, and the rule of Aspidius
was brought to an end in AD 575. The northern campaigns ended with
advantageous peace made with the Sueves in AD 576. Leovigild then
moved south again and re-established his rule in the Orospeda
Mountains in AD 577. These years saw the Gothic kingdom re¬
established with a degree of authority that it had rarely enjoyed in the
past. Leovigild celebrated his achievement by the foundation of a new
town, named Reccopolis after his son Reccared. John of Biclarum states
that by this time Leovigild had suppressed all the usurpers to be found

2 Gregory of Tours, HF 4.8.

3 See VSD below.

4 Probably located in the modem Tras Os Montes e Alto Duero province of Portugal.

INTRODUCTION

in the peninsula and overcome its invaders. 5 These invaders were of
course the Byzantines and Leovigild’s conflict with the East Roman
Empire led to a remarkable degree of self-assertion on the Gothic king’s
part. Leovigild broke with the polite political fiction of the day which
assumed the notional supremacy of the Byzantine Emperor. The
foundation of Reccopolis was one aspect of this, the striking of coins in
his own name another. He was also the first Gothic king to adopt full
royal regalia, including possibly a crown. 6 Toledo became the urbs regia
or the permanent royal capital of the Kingdom 7 and the metropolitan of
Toledo began his gradual rise to de facto supremacy over the Visigothic
church in the same way as the Patriarch of Constantinople came to head
the Eastern Orthodox church. 8 In short Leovigild saw himself as
building a parallel and fully independent ‘Byzantium’ in the West. 9

A major setback came when Leovigild’s son, Hermenegild, who had
been appointed governor of Baetica, rebelled against his father. If we
are to believe John of Biclarum’s chronology of the rebellion, it is likely
that at its outset Hermenegild declared himself a convert to Trinitarian
Christianity. This was of considerable significance. It allowed
Hermenegild to appeal, like Athanagild before him, for Byzantine
support which he received albeit in a half-hearted fashion. 10 Moreover,
it created potential support for the rebellion among the majority
Hispano-Roman population. The Sueves were also Trinitarian (their
previous conversion from Arianism may have been undertaken through
a wish to establish a distinct identity from the Goths) and hence further
potential allies. The rebellion spread over Andalusia and Extremadura
as far as Merida; but there was to be no repeat of Athanagild’s success.
The initial gains of the rebellion may have been due to Leovigild
campaigning in the North once more where we are told he captured part
of the Basque country and founded the town of Victoriacum in AD 581.

The following year Leovigild raised an army against his son and
retook Merida. He went on to besiege Seville, beating off an attempt to

5 Jo Biclar., Chron. 51.

6 Isidore, HG 51. For the possibility of a crown see Milne [1952] 48.

7 Ewig [1963] 31-36.

8 See Rivera Recio [1955].

9 For Visigothic rivalry with Byzantium see Hillgarth [1970].

10 See Gregory of Tours HF 5.38 & 6.43 and Goffart [1957].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

• •

lift the siege by the Suevic King Miro who had marched south to aid
Hermenegild only to lose his life. Leovigild then refortified the old
Roman town of Italica to mount a permanent blockade of Seville. In AD
584 the town was recaptured and the rebellion brought to a close.
Hermenegild was sent into exile first to Valencia and then Tarragona,
where he met his end at the hands of an assassin in AD 585. The
Sueves paid dearly for their support of Hermenegild; in the same year
as he was assassinated, Leovigild put an end to the Suevic kingdom’s
independent life and Arianism was re-imposed as the area’s official
creed.

Prior to raising the army to suppress the rebellion, Leovigild tried a
religious solution to undercut his son. Previously unconcerned over the
confessions of his subjects, he now initiated a policy of religious unity. 11
There was no attempt to impose the religion of the Goths, often referred
to as Arianism, 12 on the population at large; rather Leovigild sought to
impose a compromise creed in the form of Macedonianism (i.e. the
acceptance of the parity of the Father and the Son, but the subordination
of the Holy Ghost). 13 The king prayed ostentatiously at Trinitarian

11 See Orlandis [1956].

12 The Goths were converted to Christianity by bishop Ulfila in the late fourth century.
Their version of Christianity was opposed to the conclusions of the Council of Nicaea held
in AD 325 and hence became referred to as Arianism. Arianism, named after its first
exponent, Arius, a leading presbyter in the church of Alexandria, was the main concern
at Nicaea. It was a form of subordinationism which held that Christ, although not a mere
man, was nonetheless created by God the Father and hence subordinate, not co-equal to
him. Similar beliefs are held today by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There is, however, no
evidence that Ulfila or the Goths were followers of Arius, see Heather and Matthews
[1991] ch.5. ‘Arianism’ had simply become a term of ecclesiastical invective. For a
parallel phenomenon see Cronin’s [1985] discussion of ‘Pelagianism’. This presents
several problems with terminology, as the Goths referred to their brand of Christianity as
the ‘Catholic’ faith as opposed to the ‘Roman’ faith of the Trinitarians, see Gregory of
Tours, GC 24 and Jo.Biclar. Chron 58. Throughout this book ‘Arianism’ is used to denote
the beliefs of Gothic Christianity prior to the Visigoths’ conversion to Trinitarianism under
Reccared, whereas ‘Catholic’ and ‘Orthodox’ are used in their modern Trinitarian sense.

13 See Jo.Biclar., Chron 58. This passage where John refers to Leovigild’s ‘alteration of
an old heresy by a new error’ shows that it was not Arianism the King wished to
encourage. The heresy takes its name from its chief early exponent Bishop Macedonius
of Constantinople who was deposed in AD 360. Its supporters were sometimes known as
pneumatomachi , ‘those who fight against the spirit’.

INTRODUCTION

• • •

Xlll

shrines, probably as a way to claim them for the new creed. 14 In fact
Leovigild appears to have made it as easy as he could for those who
wished to change their faith; at an Arian synod called at Toledo in AD
580 he overcame one major difficulty for potential converts by
establishing the principle that a second baptism would not be required
to profess his new doctrine. 15 Nevertheless, there was also a darker side
to his strategy: there seems no reason to think that Gregory of Tours’
statement that those who did not go along with Leovigild’s policy were
persecuted with vigour is false. 16 Indeed, given that the king showed
little mercy to Gothic political dissidents, 17 it would have been out of
character for him to have shown less determination here. Leovigild’s
aim was surely the same as that of Justinian at the abortive 5th
Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople in AD 553: 18 namely to
construct a form of Christian belief upon which all his subjects could
agree.

Leovigild notoriously failed in his attempt. His failure was in part due
to the strong opposition of leading Trinitarian churchmen such as
Leander of Seville, John of Biclarum, and Masona of Merida.
Nevertheless, it would be unwise to attribute the king’s defeat solely to
their resistance. 19 Nor was Leovigild without his successes, at least one

14 See Gregory of Tours, HF 6.18. He certainly seems to have wanted to appropriate
prize Trinitarian relics for this purpose.

15 Jo.Biclar., Chron. 55.

16 HF 5.38, where it is said that in AD 580 the Catholic population of Spain suffered
persecution which included confiscation of property, exile, corporal and capital
punishment. Despite her formidable character, Gregory’s statement that the chief instigator
of this persecution was his wife Goiswintha is less credible and is surely simply a
rhetorical denigration of Leovigild.

17 Isidore, HG 51.

18 The Emperor decided that Christ was ‘incarnate and made man and crucified and is one
of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity.’ (Theopaschism), CJ 1.1.6. This was acceptable
to neither to Chaicedonians nor the Monphysites, the two warring factions he wished to
reconcile. The Emperor Heraclius’ compromise of ‘Monotheletism’ (the doctrine that
Christ had two natures, but only one will) was to fall on equally stony ground in the next
century.

19 The exile of at least two of these men, Leander and Masona, may well have been
punishment for their support of Leovigild. It is easy to see how if Hermenegild had made
Trinitarianism a rallying call a spiral of persecution could have evolved in this period.

XIV

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Bishop, Vincent of Saragossa, converted to his new creed. 20 Gregory of
Tours remarks that there were few Catholics left in Spain as a result of
the king’s actions and though his statement may be provoked by a wish
to show the faithlessness of the Goths, a race he despised, John of
Biclarum also states that many Catholics converted to the new
doctrine. 21 VPE also shows that there were Orthodox clergymen willing
to go along with Leovigild, quite possibly for patriotic reasons. The
dangers to the kingdom posed by rebellion were all too obvious and
even staunchly Trinitarian contemporaries such as John of Biclarum had
little praise for Hermenegild. 22 The early death of the king in AD 586
may well have been the most important factor for the failure of the
Macedonianist policy.

Leovigild’s son, Reccared, succeeded him, converted to
Trinitarianism, and announced the conversion of the entire Gothic nation
at 3 Toledo in AD 589. Unsurprisingly this act provoked resistance in
some quarters and the Burgundians saw fit to invade Septimania to
exploit the situation. Although they were resoundingly defeated by Duke
Claudius outside Carcassone, the victory was probably only bought with
aid from Austrasia the price of which was the loss of at least two towns
in Septimania. 23 Thereafter king and church marched together, albeit
frequently out of step. National church councils were often used to
promulgate legislation well beyond the ambit of normal ecclesiastical
matters, but it would be wrong to see the kingdom as a theocracy or an
absolute monarchy. The king always had the upper hand and would
have been regarded as a poor monarch if he had not used his power to
correct his flock; 24 however there was always the psychological restraint
of the notion that a king’s rule was ultimately granted by divine
sanction and that as God’s representative on earth the king ought to
behave in certain ways and not in others. 25 This view, best summarised

20 Isidore, DVI 43, HG 50.

21 Gregory of Tours, HF 6.18, Jo. Biclar., Chron 58.

22 John of Biclarum, Chron 55 notes that Hermenegild’s rebellion did more harm to Spain
than any foreign invader had managed to do.

23 See Bulgar, Ep 3 = PL 80 112.

24 Isidore Etymologiae 9.3, indeed a man who does not set things to rights is not a king.’

25 See 8 Toledo Tomus, where Reccesvinth states ‘all kings on earth serve and obey God’.
Similarly his father Chindasvinth had declared to Braulio, ‘Do not believe that I would
be able to do anything that is displeasing to God’, Ep.32.

INTRODUCTION

by Isidore’s dictum, ‘You shall be king if you act rightly; if you do not
you shall not be king’, was, of course, frequently honoured in the
breach. 26

After Reccared’s rule there were no attempts by outside powers to
encroach on the Kingdom and the size of the Byzantine enclave was
slowly whittled away until it was finally reconquered in its entirety by
Suinthila in AD 624. Nevertheless dangers from abroad did remain in
the form of refugae or refugees who had left the kingdom and then
attempted to make a come back often with overt or covert foreign
assistance. The danger posed by such individuals can be seen in the
frequent laws enacted to control travel abroad. 4 Toledo 30 (AD 633)
forbade clergy who lived close to the frontier to communicate with
foreign powers without express royal permission. King Chindasvinth
passed a law on treason in AD 642 condemning refugae, or even those
who wished to flee abroad, to death. 27 If the king decided to show
mercy, the guilty would still be blinded and in all events their property
was forfeit to the crown. 7 Toledo 1 (AD 646) continues the theme,
denouncing the damage caused by refugae. The canon decrees that any
cleric of any rank who goes abroad is to be instantly deprived of his
rank and anyone found aiding a rebel or foreign power is to be
excommunicated. Nor was such legislation without foundation. Suinthila
was overthrown in AD 631 by Sisenand who relied on aid from the
Franks, Reccesvinth took four years to put down Froia’s rebellion which
had the support of Basques from outside the Kingdom, and in AD 672
Count Paul’s rebellion against Wamba in Septimania again relied on
Frankish assistance. Visigothic Kings therefore had good empirical
precedents to make them suspicious of nobles or clerics who cultivated
links with foreigners. Nor were such rebellions the only danger faced by
a King, internal intrigue was also ever present. Usurpation was

26 Etymologiae 9.3.4, ‘ rex eris, si recte facias: si non facias, non eris\ based on Horace,
Epistles 1.1.59. Isidore’s relationship with Suinthila warns of the reality underlying such
sentiments. While he was fulsome in his praise of Suinthila in his History of the Goths
which was published in the king’s lifetime, Isidore is the first name in the list of bishops
denouncing him at 4 Toledo (AD 633) which was held two years after Suinthila’s death.
The History of the Goths commends Suinthila for acting as a father to the poor, but 4
Toledo 75 denounces his avarice at the poor’s expense. For a full discussion of the
Visigothic ideology of Kingship see King [1972] ch.2.

27 LV 2.1.8.

XVI

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

anathematised by 4 Toledo 75. The following Council at Toledo decided
that this canon should be read out at the end of every subsequent
National Council and that conspirators against the king were to be
excommunicated. 28 6 Toledo 18 (AD 638) called on a new king to
avenge the murderers of his predecessor as if they were the murderers
of his own father and anathemas were pronounced on conspirators.
Chindasvinth’s treason law dealt with internal rebels in the same terms
as refugae. Again this plethora of legislation is symptomatic of a
continual problem. Few Visigothic monarchs can safely be said to have
died a peaceful death. Reccared’s son Liuva II, was deposed, mutilated,
and murdered by Witteric, who was murdered in his turn seven years
later. Some have seen the cause of Sisebut’s demise as due to poison
rather than hypochondria. The young king Tulga was deposed by
Chindasvinth, who promptly made him a monk, thus disqualifying him
from further involvement in politics. In two and a half centuries of rule
the Visigoths had thirty kings - therefore it is small wonder no one of
them felt easy on his throne.

This lack of longevity among the Gothic Kings along with Gregory
of Tours’ remark on the ‘Gothic Disease’ of killing unpopular kings 29
has fuelled the conception of Visigothic Spain as a profoundly unstable
state. However it must be remembered that Gregory, never an impartial
witness at the best of times, was no friend of the Goths and that turmoil
at the top of a society need not cause extensive disturbance to its
essential structures and stability. A good example is Early Imperial
Rome. Here again the Imperial mortality rate was alarmingly high, but
few would describe the Principate as a chronically unstable period. It
would be wrong therefore to use the admittedly lurid personal careers
of many Visigothic Kings to infer that their realm led an equally
precarious existence.

For a modem historian the lack of contemporary historical accounts
of the kingdom comes as a great disappointment. While we have in the
Visigothic Lawcode and the decrees of a multitude of church councils
a detailed account of how life ought to have been lived in Gothic Spain,

28 5 Toledo 7 (the reading of 4 Toledo 75) and 4 (excommunication of conspirators). The
council took place in AD 636.

29 Gregory of Tours, HF 3.30. A phrase picked up by Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron. 4.82
when speaking of Chindasvinth’s successful usurpation against Tulga.

INTRODUCTION

XVII

we have less idea of how this law operated or did not operate. 30 There
was no Gothic equivalent of Gregory of Tours; instead we have only
Isidore of Seville’s History of the Goths and the Chronicle of John of
Biclarum, both of which provide only the barest account of events. Of
Isidore’s efforts EA Thompson has unkindly remarked, ‘He could hardly
have told us less, except by not writing at all.’ 31 It is necessary therefore
to turn to other texts to penetrate the opaque nature of the period and
place flesh on the skeleton provided by our historical sources. Needless
to say caution is needed in such a task. Given that writing, if not
literacy, was mainly the preserve of churchmen, it is inevitable that the
overwhelming majority of the texts available for study will be religious
ones. 32 The most controversial of these are hagiographies. Hagiography
was not, of course, written as a subgenre of social history, but for the
spiritual edification of its readers. Nor is it satisfactory to approach
hagiographic texts in the spirit of a historiographic gold prospector
hoping that by panning the material it will be possible to extract
historical nuggets while discarding the rest as dross and pious fiction.
However, this does not make these texts unusable. While the modem
mind approaches such documents with more prejudice than the works
of the classical historians, in fact the claims that both sets of writings
make are remarkably similar. History too in antiquity was written not
in the spirit of Ranke as an impartial record of what ‘really happened’,
but with an edifying purpose in mind, as can be seen from the
comments of Tacitus and Livy. 33 There is an equal insistence on veracity
in both cases and on the use of eye-witness accounts.

Why then are hagiographic texts regarded with suspicion? Two main
sources for concern can be identified. The first is the seemingly
stereotyped nature of many saints’ lives. But need such ‘stereotypes’ be
simply pious forgery? It is important to remember the power of
rhetorical training on ancient writers. Tacitus’ and Suetonius’ ‘good’
and ‘tyrannical’ emperors exhibit many similar features, yet the general
veracity of their accounts is rarely doubted. The use of literary
convention need not in anyway rule out the truth of what is being

30 For a masterly, though highly positivist synthesis of this evidence see King [1972].

31 Thompson [1969] 7.

32 For an optimistic view of the levels of literacy in Visigothic Spain see Collins [1990].

33 Tacitus, Annals 3.65, Livy, Praef.

xviii LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

reported. On many occasions it is a way of enlivening the text and
making it more understandable to its readers. The use of biblical
parallels in our texts deserves special mention here. These parallels can
be seen as playing two roles. The first is to show what kind of incident
is being described by reference to a parallel incident which is well-
known to the audience (it must be remembered that while the somewhat
brutal world of the Old Testament in particular seems distant to modem
readers, a Visigothic audience would have no such sense of distance).
The historical incident therefore helps to elucidate the Bible. At the
same time the Bible can be seen as revealing the underlying purpose in
recent events and thus demonstrating to the reader that Biblical teaching
was not a mere record of things in times gone by, but dealt with and
explained events known from his own time. This secondary effect would
have been of great importance to our hagiographers who are at pains to
emphasise how God is at work as much in their own day as in the past.

Apart from such theoretical points, practical considerations also need
to be taken into account. We must bear in mind that hagiography was
meant to inspire emulation: the lives of early saints provided models for
their successors who might well have tried to conform to these paragons
of virtue. If life imitated art, as was clearly the intention, we ought not
to be surprised that broad patterns of similar behaviour emerge in
accounts of saints’ lives. The refusal to become a bishop had a time-
honoured pedigree which might easily have altered the perception of the
desirability of this office in the eyes of later hermits. The spurning of
an episcopal see, often followed by a reluctant acceptance may well
have been regarded as de rigeur by those in pursuit of the religious life.

The single-minded purpose of hagiography also increases its
seemingly artificial nature. For the hagiographer, unlike the biographer,
the mere personal aspects of his subject would be of no interest
whatsoever - we learn nothing for example of the appearance of
Aemilian or Fructuosus, and the description of the Meridan Fathers is
given to reflect their sanctity not for its own intrinsic interest. The
stereotyped nature of the accounts is produced at least in part by this
concentration on what are seen as the salient aspects rather than the
entirety of the subject’s life. All forms of professional life are
stereotyped to some degree. A collection of the lives of famous
footballers, for example, if stripped of incidental detail would show

INTRODUCTION

xix

widespread correlation as would a less plausible collection of the lives
of famous university lecturers.

The second and greater objection is hagiography’s insistence on the
miracles performed by the saints. Miracles were, and indeed are, not an
optional part of a saint’s life but integral to it. 34 At the end of St Mark’s
gospel Christ promises that those who believe in Him will perform
miracles, 35 and earlier in His Earthly life He sends out His apostles with
the power to heal and raise the dead. 36 Canonisation at the period we are
considering was not a regularised procedure. Nevertheless, miracles
provided a test of the holy man’s true worth. However debatable a
man’s style of life might be, the performance of miracles marked him
out as special. The nature of a man’s life could then be used to check
whether such supernatural acts were a product of divine intervention or
black magic. Thus the combination of miracles and an approved way of
life could bar the path to canonisation to both the sanctimonious and the
sorcerer. The ability to perform miracles therefore was regarded as a
necessary, though not sufficient, condition of sanctity. 37 Quite apart from
this consideration, miracles were regarded as proof that Christianity was
a living faith. The acts performed by the saints showed that God was
still in the world and cared for His creation. This insistence on
contemporary miracles can be seen in VPE here and in earlier
martyrologies such as the Passio of Saints Perpetua and Felicity. 38

The centrality of the miraculous presents a major problem in our own
age which is only just learning to discard the claims of scientific
positivism. Normal approaches include the dismissal of such material as
simply embedded folklore, happy coincidence, or misunderstood forms
of psychosomatic healing. Running alongside such methodology is
frequently the view, either stated overtly or implied covertly, that the
acceptance or fabrication of such stories on the part of the author means

34 The modem Roman Catholic church demands one miracle for beatification and two for
canonisation.

35 Mark 16.17-18.

36 Matthew 10.8.

37 See the comments of Pope Innocent III to Hubert Walter over the canonisation of
Gilbert of Sempringham: ‘To be accepted for a saint among men in the church militant,
two things are essential: holiness of life and mighty signs... separately [they] are not fully
sufficient to establish sainthood here on earth’ in Cheney [1955] 27-28.

38 Passion of St Perpetua and St Felicity 1.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

that he cannot be relied upon in the rest of his narrative. Quite apart
from the fact that the blanket a priori dismissal of the possibility of
miracles is a position equally irrational as an uncritical acceptance of all
miracle stories, it would simply be wrong to regard either the authors
of these pieces or their intended audiences as credulous fools in the way
that the people of the early Middle Ages are frequently caricatured. Our
authors are more than aware of the scepticism that some of their tales
may engender, hence their continual insistence on their use of reliable
and eyewitness accounts of the events they record. Indeed VPE’s
ostensible reason for composition is to prove the veracity of the miracle
stories in Gregory the Great’s Dialogues by setting down parallel and
irrefutable local examples of similar occurrences. This is a tradition
which can be traced back to the New Testament where there is a
frequent insistence on the contemporaneity and verifiability of the
narrative 39 and continues in Christian writing - Papias, for example,
remarks that eyewitnesses are more reliable than sources derived from
book-learning. 40

Nor can the fact that most miracles fall into stereotyped patterns be
regarded a proof of the ‘fictional’ nature of these accounts. The gospels
outlined the signs which accompany belief and therefore clearly it is
these in which a hagiographer would take especial interest. Centring on
such signs from the hagiographer’s point of view is not recounting tired
literary topoi , but sticking to the point at issue. Even therefore if a
modem reader is predisposed to reject miracles, such an inclination must
not lead him to the view that the author he is reading is necessarily
uncritical in his work or that he is likely to fictionalise his narrative for
ulterior motives.

While these considerations may seem to save hagiography from
certain forms of criticism, unfortunately they only highlight other
problems. The single-mindedness of the texts means that their context
can sometimes be very distorted. If we are to look for a hagiographer’s
crimes, they are more often to be found in omission rather than
fabrication. There is no mention in VPE , for example, of the civil war

39 Sec John 19.35, 21.24; Acts 10.39,41; / Corinthians 15; / John 1.1-3; / Peter 5.1; 2
Peter 1.16.

40 As quoted by Eusebius, HE 3.39. Papias was Bishop of Hieropolis in the early second
century AD.

INTRODUCTION

xxi

fought between Leovigild and his son Hermenegild, despite the fact that
Merida was occupied by Hermenegild. These events occurred in the
same period which occupies the longest narrative in VPE, the rule of
Bishop Masona. To most historians they might be thought to have an
important bearing on Leovigild’s treatment of Masona, yet such secular
considerations are of no interest to VPE's author and hence omitted.
Similarly we only incidentally hear of Leovigild’s campaigns in the
North of Spain in VSA because they serve to underline Aemilian’s
sanctity. The geography of Merida is described in VPE in ecclesiastical
terms. This might be seen as an indication that a major alteration in the
perception of the antique town had occurred by the Visigothic period
with a civic geography being superseded by a sacred one, until we
remember that the author is a cleric who would naturally be inclined use
such landmarks. This would not necessarily have been the case with his
fellow townsmen (the story of the two Oxford dons, one of whom knew
his way around Oxford by pubs, the other by churches springs to mind)
and to Merida’s Arab conquerors the town’s Christian buildings were
insignificant compared to the surviving remains of the Roman period. 41
Similarly, although the activities of the Trinitarian church may have
been of great importance in Merida, we must remember that they are
recorded by a parti pris and may have been magnified accordingly. We
learn nothing of the Trinitarians’ Arian rivals nor of civil authority in
the town, though both were certainly present. Masona indeed had cause
to thank the latter when he was rescued by Duke Claudius. Moreover,
as VPE is a history of individuals rather than a community, some other
important individuals appear to have dropped out of the record. In John
of Biclarum’s Chronicle the priest John of Merida, is said to have been
‘held in high esteem’ in AD 578, but we learn nothing of this in VPE. A2
Similarly we are not told of the monk Tarra’s problems at the
monastery of Cauliana which we only know of because his appeal to

41 al-Idrisi, for example, singles out the town’s aqueduct, the ‘arch of Trajan’, and a
mysterious mirror on the town walls. For a translation see Dozy & De Goeje [1969]. A
similar view is taken by al-Himyari (translation by Maestro Gonzalez [1963]) Only the
walls (minus the mirror) are mentioned in VPE. The aqueducts and arch, substantial
structures even today, are omitted entirely.

42 Jo Biclar., Chron. 52.

XXII

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

king Reccared has survived. 43 Yet both these incidents fall in the
timespan covered by the narrative dealing with Masona. Even Masona’s
own acts in AD 573 which earned praise from John of Biclarum are
omitted from VPE presumably because they did not add to the
hagiographer’s overall purpose. 44

Another hazard in dealing with the history of Visigothic Spain is the
linguistic illusion of unity produced by the anachronistic use of the
singular term ‘Spain’. Although the Iberian peninsula appears at first
sight to be a natural unit, in reality it is an extremely diverse area with
many different regions. Similarly ‘Christianity’ too often creates a false
monolithic impression to the mind. The texts selected here aim to cover
the variations both in the geography and religious experience to be
found in the Iberian peninsula in the Visigothic period. The scene of the
events described, their protagonists, and authors differ strongly. Both the
North and South of the peninsula are represented and the authors vary
in rank from a King to the deacon of a church school. Their subjects are
also diverse, ranging from the reclusive hermit St Aemilian to the
metropolitan bishops of Toledo who were very much immersed in the
world around them.

The earliest text is Sisebut’s Life of St Desiderius (St Didier) of
Vienne. Sisebut (AD 612-621) is perhaps the Visigothic King about
whom we know most and yet his character remains enigmatic (though
as questions multiply with knowledge, perhaps this is no surprise). 45
Described as the ‘Maecenas of his age’, 46 Sisebut took a keen interest
in scholarship, being a predecessor in this respect of Alfonso X ‘el
Sabio’ of Castile or al-Hakam II of Cordoba. Another parallel which
springs readily to the English reader’s mind is that of Alfred the Great
of Wessex (AD 871-899). Sisebut was a friend and correspondent of
Isidore of Seville who described the king as ‘eloquent in speech,
informed in his opinions, and imbued with some knowledge of letters.’ 47
The bishop dedicated his treatise on Natural History, the De Natura

43 PL 80 19-22.

44 Jo Biclar, Chron. 30.

45 For a general account of Sisebut see Orlandis [1992] ch.7.

46 A reference to Gaius Maecenas, the close associate of the Emperor Augustus and
literary patron of Virgil, Horace, and Propertius.

47 Isidore, HG 60.

INTRODUCTION

XXlll

Rerum** and the first draft of the Etymologiae to Sisebut. It is possible
that Isidore’s History of the Goths was commissioned by the king,
though this was not completed until after Sisebut’s death. Sisebut,
however, was more than a mere patron of learning: he wrote a 61-line
poem on the eclipses of the Sun and Moon in good Latin hexameter
verse. 49 A collection of seven of the king’s letters to a variety of
correspondents has also survived, 50 along with the text translated here:
the Life of St Desiderius. A further poem, On the Ordering of Time, has
been occasionally, though incorrectly, attributed to him. 51 Sisebut’s
Latinity, particularly his prose, described by Fontaine as 'un galimatias
grandiloquent et pr&entieux’, 52 is tortuous and highly variable in its
quality which probably explains Isidore’s qualified praise of his king.
The variation in quality is so marked that some commentators have
rejected Sisebut’s authorship of the Life altogether and others have
postulated a ghost writer. Certainly the King’s poem is of much better
quality than the Life, but this may reflect the nature of Sisebut’s
education in his second language and is more a warning that different
registers of linguistic ability can be present in the same individual than
a reason to deny authorship of the Life to Sisebut. 53

Sisebut was deeply religious. Among his correspondence is a letter of
encouragement to his illegitimate son, Theudila, who had announced to
his father his wish to become a monk. 54 Another feature of the King’s
piety was his attempt to convert his Jewish subjects forcibly to
Christianity. This policy drew a rebuke from Isidore 55 and was
abandoned after the king’s death. 56 Sisebut’s actions left a powerful

48 The preface begins ‘Isidore to his Lord and son Sisebut’, PL 83 963-1018; for a
modem edition see Fontaine [I960].

49 = PL 83 1112. For a modem edition see Fontaine [I960].

5(1 PL 80 303-378.

51 = PL 94 605.

52 Fontaine [1960a].

5 ’ See, for example, Jimenez Duque [1977] 109 ‘Is the work his? From its subject and
style apparently not.’

54 Sisebut Epl = PL 80 370-372. It could be suggested cynically that Theudila’s decision
to become a monk would solve a potential problem of royal succession for Sisebut and
that was the reason for the king’s enthusiasm.

55 Isidore, HG 60.

56 It was renounced by the church after the king’s death by 4 Toledo 57 (AD 633).

XXIV

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

impression on the Jewish community in Spain which is recorded for us
by the fifteenth century historian Saloman ibn Verga. 57

It would be very wrong however to see Sisebut as a monkish roi
faineant interested only in the cloister and scriptorium. He was prepared
to intervene actively in church politics - one of his surviving letters
rebukes Eusebius, bishop of Tarragona, for failing to appoint the king’s
favoured candidate to the bishopric of Barcelona. 58 His reign also saw
extensive military activity in the Asturias, possibly campaigns against
the Franks in Cantabria, 59 and against the Byzantines whose power in
Spain was broken by the King’s vigorous action. By the end of
Sisebut’s reign the Byzantine province was reduced to a rump and was
finally reconquered in its entirety by Sisebut’s successor, Suinthila. Yet
competent general that he was, Sisebut took little delight in battle.
Pseudo-Fredegar records that after a victory over the Byzantines he
lamented that his reign had seen such bloodshed. 60

Perhaps these two aspects of Sisebut’s character can be seen as
combined in VSD. Given his piety, it comes as little surprise to find
Sisebut writing a saint’s life. Nor should his pious protestations that his
work is for spiritual edification be simply dismissed out of hand; there
can be little doubt that Sisebut did indeed wish to educate his readership
in this way. His choice of saint, however, is much more striking. There
was no cult of St Desiderius in Spain 61 and it might have seemed more
natural for the King to write a life of a popular Hispanic saint such as
St Vincent, Sta Eulalia, or Sta Leocadia, the patron saint of Toledo,
whose cult he is known to have sponsored. The subject of the life has
also been used along with its style to cast doubt on Sisebut’s authorship.
A variety of reasons suggest themselves to explain Sisebut’s choice. It
could be argued that Sisebut is writing an account which sets out the
ideology of kingship championed by his friend Isidore of Seville and the
consequences for royalty of failing to live up to this ideal. 62 Clearly it

57 See his Staff of Judah.

58 Sisebut, Ep 6 = PL 80 370.

59 See Larraflaga Elorza [1993].

60 Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron ., 4.33.

61 He is entirely absent from the Mozarabic liturgical works we possess.

62 Isidore expresses his views that kingship has a moral content in his Etymologiae 1.29
and Sententiae 3.48. See King [1972] ch.2 for a full discussion of Visigothic kingship.

INTRODUCTION

XXV

would be best to tell such a cautionary tale of neighbouring kings rather
than of one’s own predecessors. Such a strategy would preserve the
prestige and authority of the Visigothic monarchs of Spain whose
continued survival implied their adherence to such values, while at the
same time questioning the legitimacy of neighbouring kings. An attack
on the Franks would also appeal widely to Gothic prejudice and hence
increase the King’s popularity. Moreover the Franks involved, Brunhilda
and Theuderic, appear to have used the instability in Spain at the time
of the Kingdom’s conversion to Orthodoxy in AD 589 to extort territory
in Visigothic Septimania 63 - an event which would have only occurred
some twenty years before the writing of the Life and as such would
have been within the living memory of many of Sisebut’s audience. A
reminder to his audience, especially those living in Septimania, of the
horrors of Frankish tyranny now that Merovingian Gaul was reunited for
the first time for two generations and so potentially posed a much
greater threat to Sisebut’s Gallic possessions may have seemed no bad
thing to the king. Fontaine has suggested plausibly that the work could
also have been aimed at preserving good relations with the new unitary
state created in Gaul by Clothar II after his defeat of Brunhilda in AD
613. 64 Clothar is depicted by Sisebut as the innocent victim of
Brunhilda’s ambitions, whereas in fact he appears to have been heavily
implicated in Austrasian conspiracies to remove her. If this is the case,
Sisebut can be seen as neatly killing two birds with one stone, both
creating hostility to further Frankish expansion in Septimania and at the
same time presenting an account of recent events in Burgundy which
could not be faulted by its current ruler.

As an attack on Brunhilda Sisebut’s work must be seen as a striking
success spawning as it did a ieyenda negra’ of Brunhilda the wicked
queen which persisted virtually unchallenged until late in the nineteenth
century. 65 Sisebut draws a much more black and white picture of what
took place at the saint’s martyrdom than our other accounts. 66 Desiderius
is portrayed as steadfast in his righteousness and enjoying absolute

63 See Bulgar, Ep .3 = PL 80 112.

64 Fontaine [1980].

65 The first major revisionist work casting doubt on Sisebut’s account of Brunhilda was
that of Kurth [1891].

66 See in particular the anonymous Passio Sancti Desiderii, printed in AB 9 (1890).

XXV)

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

popular support, neither of which seems entirely certain when compared
with our other, admittedly later, sources, and Brunhilda is set up as the
evil genius of Burgundy, in contrast to Pseudo-Fredegar’s account which
attributes the demise of Desiderius as much to Bishop Aridius of Lyons
as to Brunhilda. 67 The success of Sisebut’s strategy could not have been
immediately predictable. Pope Gregory the Great was a correspondent
and apparently a friend of Brunhilda 68 and Gregory of Tours also has
good things to say of her. 69 Nonetheless, presumably because it fitted the
plans of the rulers in both Spain and Gaul, the black legend of
Brunhilda set up by Sisebut was to become the norm. One example of
its success in Spain is that the author of VPE draws heavily upon
Sisebuf s work to depict paragons of good and evil. Sisebut died in AD
621 in confused circumstances. Isidore is unclear whether natural causes
were to blame or whether the king took an overdose of a medicine. 70

The second text, St Braulio of Saragossa’s Life of St Aemilian (San
Mill6n de la Cogolla) may also exhibit rivalry with the Franks. Bom in
c.AD 585, Braulio was a pupil of Isidore of Seville. He appears to have
returned to his home town of Saragossa in c.AD 619 and in AD 631
became bishop there succeeding his elder brother John. He was to hold
this post until his death in AD 651. In the preface to VSA we are told
that Braulio intends to involve his great friend Eugene in writing the
Life a task which the priest Fronimian has asked him to undertake. As
Eugene was appointed bishop of Toledo in AD 645, VSA must have
been written between AD 631-645, probably towards the end of this
period if Braulio did indeed lose his initial draft of the work as he
claims. Apart from VSA, we possess a collection of 44 letters from
Braulio’s correspondence, 71 and a poem in praise of St Aemilian, though
this is rejected as spurious by some commentators. 72 A sermon on St
Vincent of Saragossa has also been occasionally attributed to Braulio. 73

67 Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron. 4.32.

68 See Gregory, Reg. 6.5, 6.50, 11.62 (thanking her for helping Augustine’s mission to
Britain) and 13.6 (praising her for building a xenodocium in Autun).

69 e.g HF 4.27.

70 Isidore, HG 61.

71 For an English translation see Barlow [1969]. The text of the letters was recently edited
by Riesco Terrero [1975].

72 eg by Barlow [1969].

73 PL 54 501-504 (collected with the works of Pope Leo the Great).

INTRODUCTION

XXVll

Many attempts have been made to give Braulio a more extensive family
by extrapolation from his letters. The priest Fronimian, for example, is
often claimed as his brother on the strength of Braulio’s use of ‘frater’
at the beginning of VSA. However, given the context of one priest
writing to another, this is to enter into the realms of unsustainable
conjecture. 74 Braulio, like his master, was a learned man and a keen
collector of books who acquired an extensive library. 75 He appears to
have been familiar, at least in the form of excerpts from florilegia , with
a substantial number of classical authors. 76 He was clearly highly
respected by the Spanish church. His friend and former archdeacon,
Bishop Eugene II of Toledo, turned to him for advice on the problem
of an irregular ordination at Toledo and its consequences; 77 and the
Spanish church as a whole mandated him at 6 Toledo (AD 638) to write
in its defence to Pope Honorius who had accused his Iberian brethren
of laxity in their attitude towards the Jews. 78 Braulio’s relations with the
kings of his day were varied. He pleaded with Chindasvinth not to
remove Eugene from Saragossa to Toledo, but failed to persuade him, 79
though it could be argued that Chindasvinth, who wished to create an
intellectual centre in Toledo, paid Braulio a great, if perhaps
unintentional, compliment in removing his favourite pupil to boost this
project. Braulio was more successful when he wrote to Chindasvinth
along with bishop Eutropius and Count Celsus urging him to share his
throne with his son Reccesvinth. 80 The letter reveals a man very much
involved in the secular as well as the ecclesiastical concerns of his day.
Reccesvinth who became sole ruler on his father’s death seems to have

74 Lynch [1938] is a prime example of this flawed methodology.

75 See especially Braulio, Ep. 42, where Braulio begs Taio to send him copies of the
works of Gregory he had found in Rome, and Ep. 44, where St Fructuosus in his turn asks
for various books from Braulio.

76 See, for example, Braulio Ep. 11, where Braulio misquotes Horace, Ars Poetica 2If.
and ascribes the quotation to Terence.

77 Braulio, Ep. 35-36.

78 Braulio, Ep. 21.

79 Braulio, Ep. 31-33.

80 Braulio, Ep. 37.

XXV111

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

been on friendlier terms with Braulio than his father. He may well have
employed him to draft his new law-code, the Liber ludicorum . 8I

Braulio’s choice of Aemilian as a subject for hagiography is much
less surprising than Sisebut’s choice of Desiderius. There is little reason
to doubt that it was motivated by the request from his colleague
Fronimian as a piece to be read out at a local mass in honour of the
saint as mentioned at the beginning of the Life. The scope of Aemilian’s
cult at this time is difficult to ascertain. It appears that its appeal was
increasing at the time Braulio wrote as VSA is one of the works that St
Fructuosus requests from him. 82 Braulio may well have seen part of his
task as firmly to entrench a source of popular veneration within the
ambit of the Orthodox church. In the terminology of Benedict’s or
Isidore’s monastic rules Aemilian, an uneducated shepherd, would have
come close to being categorised as a Sarabaite , or self-inspired hermit
who recognised no superior earthly authority. 83 Such behaviour was,
wisely in an age when wonder workers were rife, heavily frowned upon
by the church. 84 Braulio therefore labours the point that Aemilian in fact
had a mentor for his spiritual development and that the cultivation of
correct spirituality requires such a teacher. Similarly Braulio’s audience
is explicitly warned off imitating some of Aemilian’s heterodox

81 Braulio, Ep. 38-41 refer to a manuscript sent by Reccesvinth to Braulio for correction.
This is commonly held to be the draft law-code. Even if it is not, the incident shows the
prestige of Braulio as a man of learning at the royal court in Toledo. See King [1980] for
the possibility that this was a major enterprise.

82 See contra Fernandez Alonso [1955] who believes the cult was purely local when VSA
was written. Aemilian’s cult as San Mill&n de la Cogolla was to grow rapidly in the early
Middle Ages. Count Fem£n Gonz&lez adopted him as his personal saint and after St James
he came to be regarded as the patron saint of Spain and of the Reconquista. He is
normally depicted astride a horse holding a sword and Christian banner. He remains the
patron saint of Aragon. Despite pious assertions that Aemilian himself was a monk and
that a monastery was founded on the site of his cell on his death, there is no evidence for
a monastery here until the early tenth century AD.

St Fructuosus’ request and Braulio’s reply can be found in the surviving collection of
Braulio’s letters. £/?.43-4. In EpAA Braulio states that Fructuosus is close to him ‘in
family ties’. This has been used to argue that the two men were related. Such arguments
however ignore the metaphorical use of such terms among churchmen; see for example
Jerome, £p.l03 to Augustine where there is no question of a family link.

83 St Benedict, Rule ch.l, Isidore, De Eccl.Off (= PL 83 537-826) 2.16.24.

84 See 4 Toledo 53 (AD 633) & 7 Toledo 5 (AD 646) for attempts to suppress
unauthorised hermits. For a modem treatment of this topic see Markus [1990].

INTRODUCTION

XXIX

practices as these according to the author will place their souls in
danger. Such control might have been thought all the more necessary in
Northern Spain which had a history of extreme ascetic spirituality, the
most notable example being the Priscillianist movement.

Braulio’s text was the basis for a lengthy poem in praise of the saint
by Gonzalo de Berceo written in Romance in the thirteenth century AD.
Gonzalo fleshes out much of Braulio’s narrative, alters some to fit his
own day, and includes additional material which may be drawn from
earlier traditions not used by Braulio or simply be later legendary
accretions to his account. 85

Throughout VSA there are strong parallels with Sulpicius Severus’ life
of St Martin of Tours. These can be regarded in several ways. A naive
view would be that these incidents are merely hagiographic topoi.
However, given the prestige that St Martin came to enjoy in Gaul and
the intense rivalry between the Franks and the Goths, the creation of a
Gothic parallel to Martin, a parallel who on certain occasions goes one
better than his Frankish model, could also be seen as an attempt by
Braulio to demonstrate the superior spirituality of the Gothic church.
This may have been of particular importance in the North of Spain as
the conversion of the Sueves of Galicia to Orthodoxy in c.AD 550-560
is attributed to miracles performed by St Martin’s relics by Gregory of
Tours. 86 Braulio’s lionisation of Aemilian could therefore have been an
attempt to show that the Gothic church too had produced saints of
unimpeachable Orthodoxy in the North of Spain in this early period.
Such an assertion would legitimate the rule of the Gothic church in the
region and also that God’s representatives on earth, the Visigothic kings.

The third and most extensive text translated here is the Lives of the
Meridan Fathers. The episodes described by it are all associated with
the town of Merida in Extremadura. The town had a long history, being
the former Roman city of Colonia Augusta Emerita which itself was
built on the site of a previous Iberian village in 25 BC by Carisius for
veterans ( emeriti ) of the X Gemina and V Alaudae legions, hence its
name. The Roman city was founded as the capital of the Roman
province of Lusitania and has often been thought to have been the
capital of the diocese of the Spains in the Late Roman period (Etienne

85 For a full account of Gonzalo’s poem see Dutton [1967] & [1992].

86 Sulpicius Severus, De Virtutibus S Martini 1.11.

XXX

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

[1982]), but recent archaeological finds at Cordoba now make this
hypothesis unlikely. The town was occupied by the Alans in AD 409,
fought over by the Vandals and Sueves in AD 429, and in AD 439 the
Suevic capital was established here; the Suevic king Requila dying in
the city in AD 448. A Gothic attempt to take the town in AD 457 under
Theoderic failed and the city was finally captured by the Goths under
Euric in AD 468. It was heavily involved in the civil wars between
Athanagild and Agila (AD 551-555) and between Leovigild and
Hermenegild (AD 579-584), being recaptured by Leovigild in AD 582.
Leovigild celebrated his victory by striking coins and the legends
‘Victoria’ and ‘Victor’. 87 It is not known when Christianity arrived in
Merida; the first attested bishop is bishop Martial, mentioned by
Cyprian, Ep.61. The town appears to have been a bastion of Orthodoxy.
Bishop Hydatius led the attack on Priscillian who along with his
supporters was driven out of the town when he attempted to take the
fight to Hydatius there in AD 380. 88 It resisted the Arab invasion
fiercely, falling on 1st June AD 713. It was liberated on 15th January,
AD 1228 by Alfonso IX of Le6n.

The author of the Lives is unknown and merely identifies himself as
a deacon in the ecclesiastical school of Sta Eulalia at Merida. A weak
tradition, beginning only in the fourteenth century, assigns the text to an
otherwise unknown ‘Paul the Deacon’, but there is little substance for
this belief. The name ‘Paul’ was probably generated by the Lives'
reference to the Dialogues of Gregory the Great and the fact that a
deacon named Paul wrote a life of Gregory. 89 The greatest interest of
the text from the historian’s point of view is the light that it throws on
life in Merida in the seventh century, albeit from a very specific point
of view. Unfortunately the date of the text is disputed. VPE draws on
Gregory’s Dialogues which provide a terminus post quern for the work
in its present form. The date of the Dialogues has recently been
challenged by Clark and if his hypothesis were correct the Lives would
need substantially postdating, a view shared by some older
commentators. 90 The shift of the date would make the account of the

87 See Miles [1952] nos 38-41.

88 Psuedo-Priscillian, Tractate 2 p.40 = PLS 2 1439.

89 = PL 75 41-60.

90 For example Men^ndez Pelayo [1880] t.l 183.

INTRODUCTION

XXXI

town given much more suspect. However there are major problems with
Clark’s position, and at present there seems no reason to change the
traditional date for the composition of the Dialogues (AD 593/4) or
consequently assume that the Lives is other than a seventh century
composition. 91 It is not known exactly when the Dialogues became
known in Spain. Clearly some of the works of Gregory were not
available in the peninsula in the bishopric of Eugene of Toledo (AD
646-657) as can be seen from a letter sent to the bishop by his envoy
to Rome, Taio. 92 However other works were known and had a high
reputation - Braulio asked Taio to send him manuscripts of the new
works he had uncovered as quickly as possible. 93 Unfortunately there is
no way of telling in which of these two groups we should place the
Dialogues. Nevertheless, the fact that Isidore does not list the Dialogues
in his DVI must create a suspicion that they were one of Taio’s
discoveries. Garvin attempting to rationalise the rough chronology given
in the text itself, believes that VPE was composed during the episcopacy
of the bishop who succeeded Bishop Renovatus, the last named bishop
in the work. This is most likely to have been bishop Stephen (AD 633-
638). But Garvin’s date seems a little too early and VPE is probably a
product of the mid rather than the early seventh century. 94

At the beginning of the text we find that the stated purpose of the
author is to justify the stories found in Gregory the Great’s Dialogues
and provide local parallels to them. The statement is of interest for two
reasons. First, it might lead us to think that there was scepticism about
some of Gregory’s stories at the time VPE was written. It also suggests
that Gregory’s Dialogues were a popular work in Spain and that our
anonymous author was attempting to exploit this popularity by
producing a local version of such tales. It is also possible that given the
rising pretensions of the see of Toledo at the time of writing that VPE
was an attempt to assert the importance of the Meridan church and its
bishops. 95

91 See Clark [1986] & [1987] and contra Meyvaert [1988] and Straw [1989].

92 Taio, Ep. ad Eugenium = PL 80 725.

93 Braulio, EpA2.

94 The view of Diaz y Diaz [1981].

95 See the comments of Fontaine in Diaz y Diaz [1981].

XXX11

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

If the author was attempting to cash in on the popularity of Gregory’s
Dialogues , he must have left his readers bitterly disappointed. Although
the first episode in VPE does bear some resemblance to the Dialogues ,
the rest of the Lives is very pedestrian compared to Gregory’s stories
and contains very little in the way supernatural incidents. The work is
a compilation of lives of various priests in Merida with little attempt to
link the different episodes. The deacon first speaks of an incident which
occurred in his own day, but then moves back into the past. The largest
narrative concerns Bishops Paul, Fidel, and Masona and the struggle of
the Trinitarian church in Merida to preserve itself and the relics of the
town’s patron saint, Sta Eulalia, under the last of the Arian kings of
Spain, Leovigild. Throughout the account there is a strong element of
selectivity, as discussed above. If a centre of unity is to be sought, the
best candidate would be the devotion to Sta Eulalia, the patron saint of
the town, which the author shows. Sta Eulalia was a young girl
martyred in Merida in c.AD 304. An account of her martyrdom can be
found in Prudentius, Peristephanon Martyrorum 3. Prudentius’ account
describes, with some exaggeration, a ‘tumulus’ or richly decorated
church erected in her memory. Damaged by the Vandals in AD 429, it
was soon repaired. 96 A larger church was built on the same site in the
5th Century which remained in use throughout the Visigothic Period.
The building fell into disuse during the Arabic occupation of the town,
but was rebuilt after the reconquista in the thirteenth century and
remains in use today. Outside the church were trees said to flower on
the cult day of the saint (December 10). Eulalia enjoyed more than local
fame; the church in Berceo where St Aemilian served as a priest is said
to have been dedicated to her ( VSA 12) and Fructuosus of Braga visited
her shrine on his pilgrimage to the south of Spain (VSF 11). Her cult is
also found beyond the peninsula: she was the subject of a sermon by St
Augustine; 97 is found listed with other saints on a mosaic in the church
of St Martin in Ravenna; 98 mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus" and

96 Hydatius, Chron. Min. 2.21.

97 Serm. Morin. 2.

98 CJL 11.281.

99 8.3.170 ‘De Virginitate’.

INTRODUCTION

xxxiii

Gregory of Tours in Gaul; 100 and by Aldhelm in both his prose and
verse works on virginity. 101

According to Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo (AD 1101-1129) Eulalia’s
relics were rescued from the Arabs by King Silo of the Asturias (AD
774-783) and placed in Oviedo cathedral. A group of relics said to be
Eulalia’s remain there to this day. However, the metric martyrology of
Wandelbert implies that saint’s bones remained in Merida and have
subsequently been lost. 102 There is no reason to assume that the saint is
a syncretic version of the Celtiberian goddess Ataecina as is sometimes
asserted. 103 The most prominent monuments of the saint to be seen in
Merida today are the Hornito de Santa Eulalia , a small shrine built from
reused blocks of classical and Visigothic masonry on the supposed site
of Eulalia’s martyrdom by the side of the Church of Santa Eulalia in
AD 1617, and a crude statue of the saint (decried by Almagro [1957]
as in ‘lamentable bad taste’) erected on a column consisting of reused
classical column capitals which was originally erected in AD 1652 and
moved to its present site in the Calle de Santa Eulalia near the church
in the last century.

St lldefonsus, bishop of Toledo AD 657-667, is the author who had
the most impact in future years of all those translated here. 104 He is said
to have entered the monastery of Agali as a youth against the wishes of
his father who came and attempted to extract him forcibly. 105 Having
survived this attempt to cut his religious life short, lldefonsus went on
to become abbot of the monastery and was present at 8 and 9 Toledo
while holding this office. No trace of Agali now remains. The Deeds of
lldefonsus attributed to Cixila (bishop of Toledo AD 744-753), but in
fact written in the 10th century, speaks of lldefonsus serving in a church

100 GM 90.

101 PL 89 146, 273.

102 PL 121 621, written c.AD 842.

103 For a modem account of the saint’s cult see Recio Veganzones 11992].

104 We possess two accounts of lldefonsus’ life - one by his successor Julian of Toledo
the Baeti lldefonsi Eulogium (PL 96 43-44) and another purportedly by Cixila, archbishop
of Toledo AD 774-783, but in fact dating to the 10th century, one manuscript in fact
attributes the work to a predecessor of lldefonsus, Helladius...

105 Julian of Toledo, Beati lldefonsi Elogium = PL 96 43-44.

XXXIV

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

dedicated to Sts Cosmas and Damian located on the outskirts of Toledo
and this is normally accepted as a reference to the monastery. 106 Pseudo-
Cixila also asserts that Ildefonsus was a pupil of Isidore of Seville.
However, as Ildefonsus himself makes no mention of this fact and
speaks of his predecessor Eugene II as his master, it would be unwise
to trust this statement, which was probably motivated by the author’s
wish to link together the two most famous churchmen of Visigothic
Spain. In fact Ildefonsus seems poorly informed about Isidore’s oeuvre.
Braulio gives a much better catalogue of his books than does Ildefonsus
in his DVI} 01

Ildefonsus succeeded Eugene II as bishop of Toledo in AD 657. It
was while bishop that he wrote his On Famous Men. Although it is
purportedly a continuation of Jerome and Isidore’s books of the same
name, DVI is in fact much more narrowly focused than either of these
two works. The ‘famous men’ described all have Spanish connections
and Ildefonsus concentrates in particular on his predecessors at Toledo.
In doing so he reveals much about the internal politics and divisions of
the See; facts which, while fascinating for the modern historian, appear
to have been less attractive to his immediate successors. DVI is omitted
from the list of Ildefonsus’ writings by his successor Julian of Toledo,
probably because of the disreputable light it cast on the Toledan church.
Throughout the work there is an insistence that many of those listed
showed their holiness through their lives rather than by leaving writings.
A certain defensive tone may be detected here. Perhaps the scholarly
Ildefonsus sensed Isidore of Seville and his pupils overshadowing his
own predecessors. Ildefonsus himself, however, could not be accused of
academic sloth or worldly inaction. He both expanded his old monastery
of Agali and built a convent for nuns near Toledo at Deibense. 108 He
was also one of the few Spanish church fathers to engage in Theology.
His On the Perpetual Virginity of Mary against Three Unbelievers
which takes to extremes the fashion of the day for expressing ideas in

106 Pseudo-Cixila, Gesta Sancti lldefonsi ch.l = PL 96 44 (here the work is named Vita...)

107 The relationship between Braulio and Ildefonsus’ accounts is explored by Vega
[1961].

108 Julian of Toledo, Beati lldefonsi Eulogium = PL 96 43.

INTRODUCTION

XXXV

as many parallel forms as possible, 109 can be regarded as the foundation
of the Cult of Mary in the Peninsula. The Deeds of lldefonsus relates
that Mary visited lldefonsus and presented him with a gift. 110 This gift
became fixed in tradition as a chasuble and the most frequent medieval
depiction of lldefonsus shows him receiving a chasuble from the hands
of Mary. lldefonsus’ other works deal with a mixture of pastoral topics
(e.g. On Progress from the Spiritual Desert , a treatise on how the recent
convert should progress to achieve heaven, and theological themes such
as On the Persons of the Trinity (now lost) and On the recognition of
one baptism . m Other works attributed to lldefonsus are several prayers
to Mary found in the Visigothic Orational 112 and the mass ‘Erigamus
quaeso’ for 18th of December held in honour of Mary. 113 A collection
of sermons, mainly from Rheims, also became attached to his name in
the Middle Ages. 114 lldefonsus died on 23 January AD 667 and was
buried at the feet of his predecessor Eugene II.

One absentee from lldefonsus’ list of Isidore’s books in the chapter
devoted to him in DV1 is the History of the Goths . Some have seen this
omission in a sinister light and as indicating that there was friction
between the bishop and the king of the day, Reccesvinth. This, it is
suggested, is why there was no national Church council while lldefonsus
was occupied the see of Toledo. However, Reccesvinth was not on bad
terms with the church as a whole as has been seen from his friendly
relations with Braulio of Saragossa and if he had been on poor terms
with lldefonsus, it seems unlikely that the bishop would have thought
an apt way to gain his revenge was to attempt to conceal a minor work
of Isidore’s. It is more likely that lldefonsus was trying to preserve
Isidore’s reputation by suppressing a book which had ended with an
encomium of King Suinthila, and hence distance him from this king

109 The so-called ‘synonymous style’.

1,0 Pseudo-Cixila, The Deeds of St lldefonsus ch.7 = PL 96 48.

111 lldefonsus’ surviving works can be found in PL 96 1-330. They are listed, along with
his lost works, by Julian of Toledo, Beati Ildefonsi Eulogium = PL 96 44.

1.2 n°s 202, 209, 222, & 223. The so-called plegarias marianas.

1.3 F6rotin [1912] 50-53.

1.4 Maloy [1971].

XXXVI

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

who had been denounced by the church after his death at 4 Toledo in
AD 633.

The final text in this collection, The Life of St Fructuosus, is entirely
anonymous. We are given no indication of the author or his rank in the
text. Previously the work was assigned to Valerius of El Bierzo, but
such an attribution is impossible and is based only on Valerius’
undoubted devotion to the saint. 115 The date of composition must fall
after the death of the saint in AD 665. As one source used by the author
is VPE, U6 it must also postdate this work. However the author claims
to have used sources who knew the saint so the work ought to have
been written soon after Fructuosus’ death. Diaz y Diaz plausibly places
the date of its composition around AD 680. 117

The manuscript tradition of VSF is complex and several large sections
only occur in one codex, O. These have been left in the translation in
brackets. In fact the whole document itself appears to be an awkward
combination of two accounts of the saint, a biography and an earlier
aretology, which are less than perfectly joined together at chapter 8. 118

Like Ildefonsus, the author of VSF draws a contrast between writing
on sacred topics and practicing the holy life. However, unlike in
Ildefonsus’ work, this time there is nothing defensive about the parallel.
Isidore of Seville and Fructuosus are compared to the sun and moon,
but it is Fructuosus who is the greater light and who reveals the inner
secrets of the soul as opposed to Isidore, the lesser light, who merely
catalogues the secrets of the world. The work, as we possess it, is a tract
to promote monasticism. Fructuosus’ journeys through the peninsula
founding monasteries as he goes are presented in Perez de Urbel’s
words as ‘a holy Odyssey’. 119 We are told nothing of Fructuosus’ life as
bishop of Braga and indeed the very fact that he was, albeit probably
briefly, bishop of Dumio is entirely omitted. Nor is there any mention

115 For a linguistic analysis which casts grave doubt on the case for Valerius’ authorship
see Nock [1946].

116 See Nock [1946] and Maya [1992] for a list of the passages drawn upon.

1.7 Diaz y Diaz [1974] & [1981].

1.8 See Diaz y Diaz [1953].

1.9 P6rez de Urbel [1944] 392.

INTRODUCTION

xxx vn

of Fructuosus’ secular activities. The impression that the hagiographer
wishes to give us is of an otherworldly founder of monasteries who was
more or less indifferent to the secular world around him. Indeed at
times, for example in the account of the foundation of the monastery of
Nono in chapter 14, we are given a vision of Fructuosus creating a
parallel world to the one around him. The impression our author wishes
to give is that accepted by Jim&iez Duque namely that Fructuosus was
‘first and foremost an ascetic’. Certainly his rule for Compludo suggests
that asceticism occupied an important place in his thought. Nevertheless
we must be aware that our impression is conditioned by what the
hagiographer wishes to tell us. Fructuosus was born of a noble family
and his conversion to the religious life appears to have happened in his
thirties. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he had been
forced into monastic life by changes in the fortunes of his family. 120
Even so he was not uninterested in the world around him, as his petition
to King Reccesvinth for the release of those imprisoned for conspiracy
in the reign of Chintila (AD 636-639) shows. 121 Given Fructuosus’
background, it is easy to see why Reccesvinth would have been alarmed
by his plans to go abroad, even if the journey was as the hagiographer
insists merely for the purposes of pilgrimage.

As can be seen, therefore, Spanish hagiography gives us a wide
spectrum of viewpoints from which to look at the history of the
Visigothic period. The nature of hagiography means that care has to be
taken in the use of these texts; in particular we must always be aware
that the vistas we are offered are presented to some purpose and often
not quite what they seem. Nevertheless it is equally important not to
over-emphasise the divergence between hagiography and history, nor to
assume that the former has no regard for historical truth whatever and
as such can provide material only for the history of ideas. The historical
setting of their material was important for these authors, as their own
writing makes clear. This should come as no surprise given that
Christianity has always emphasised its historical context. There is no

120 Relegation to a monastery was a useful way of marginalising an individual’s influence
on secular politics. See, for example, Chindasvinth’s treatment of Tulga.

121 PLS 4 2092-2093.

XXXV111

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

doubt that these texts do provide important information for the history
of ideas, but a careful historian will also find in them a valuable aid to
reconstruct the social and political history of this fascinating period.

Lives of the Visigothic Fathers

Translator’s notes

Early versions of all these texts are to be found in Migne’s Patrologia
Latina. However, the following texts have been used as a basis for
translation here.

Life of St Desiderius - J.Gil, Vita Desiderii in Miscellanea Wisigothica
(2ed, Seville, 1991)

Life of St Aemilian - L.Vaquez de Parga, Vita S.Emiliani: edicion
critica (Madrid, 1943)

Lives of the Meridan Fathers - A.Maya Sanchez, Vitas Sanctorum
Patrum Emeretensium (= Corpus Christianorum 116) (Turnholt, 1992)
On Famous Men - C.Codofler Merino, El «De Viris Illustribus» de
Ildefonso de Toledo (Salamanca, 1972)

Life of St Fructuosus - M.Dlaz y Diaz, La Vida de San Fructuoso de
Braga (Braga, 1974)

As these translations are intended for historians, very few notes on
linguistic usage have been included.

Direct quotations from the Bible have been italicised and taken from the
Authorised Version.

xxxix

King Sisebut

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

1 For imitation by the present generation, for the edification of men to
come, and that Holy deeds may be done in future times, I have decided
to write the life of the Holy martyr Desiderius. Whatever has been
brought to our notice by reliable testimony, 1 have recorded in a bare
style rather than in one loaded down with glistening words, begging that
the Lord who gave, and not without reason, power to that man to
perform miracles, might come and be present with us and, rousing my
mind and tongue from sloth, grant me, unworthy though I am, the
ability to tell of the passing of these deeds.

2 This man, bom from a Roman family of noble stock, was dedicated
to the Lord from his cradle, and certainly came from a glorious line.
When he reached that age at which it is fitting to be educated, he was
entrusted to the study of letters. In almost no time having surpassed his
teachers as the power of his intellect grew and having fully learnt the
art of grammar, he expounded the divine scriptures, committing them
to memory with astonishing rapidity. 1 For he possessed great mental
ability, a most prodigious memory, the sharpest of minds, great
eloquence in speaking, 2 and, what is more important than all of these
things, he was governed in all his deeds by his conscience. He brought
food, as the gospels tell us to do, to the hungry, drink to the thirsty,
gave solace to the weak and imprisoned, hospitality to the stranger, and
clothes to the naked. 3 Pride, the enemy of all virtue, did not possess
him, nor did he fall a victim to slothful drunkenness. He was not
burdened with gluttony nor did insatiable lust corrupt him. Deceitful lies
did not shake his resolve nor did the fatal love of money tempt him.
When he grew strong in such virtues given by divine favour and, on
leaving behind his boyhood, had not spent his youthful years lusting for

1 cf the young Christ and the doctors of the Temple, Luke 2.42-47.

2 The anonymous Passio Desiderii (= PL 124 435-442, also printed in AB 9, 1890) states
that Desiderius possessed an extensive personal library. Desiderius' learning and love of
secular writings can be seen from the fact that he began to teach secular grammar lessons
and was rebuked by Gregory the Great for doing so. The Pope warned him that the
praises of Christ and Jupiter were uneasy bedfellows, Ep. 10.54.

3 cf Matthew 25.35-36.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

earthly things, 4 he gained an ever increasing reputation as a good man
and his works of light given by the true light shone forth in many
regions.

3 Finally the people from many towns asked that he might become their
bishop in order that they might receive his blessings. He, humble as he
was, was unwilling to take up so great a ministry, saying that he was
unworthy and would be unequal to the task. Finally the church at
Vienne obtained their wish and made him, unwilling but persuaded by
their many prayers, their bishop. 5 As bishop with his careful preaching
he weaned the litigious from their anger, the false from their mendacity,
the greedy from their rapacity, and the lustful from their sins. He tamed
drunkenness through sobriety, overcame greed through abstinence,
conquered discord through acts of charity, calmed pride by his sincere
humility, and through his vigilance shook the worst doubter from his
torpor. He taught them to be generous in the giving of alms, sincere in
prayer, firm in friendship, just in legal matters, and surefooted in all
their doings. All these things he taught more by example than by words,
knowing that the Lord will come and judge not a man’s eloquence, but
his deeds.

4 While he was doing these things with Christ’s aid, the enemy of the
faithful and ally of the faithless, the devisor and friend of death,
groaned and, having armed himself with every kind of weapon, came
himself to fight the soldier of Christ. But in no way did the cunning of
the enemy prevail: his dread wickedness harmed not the man of God
whom the grace of the Redeemer armed with weapons of the Spirit. At
last, the worthless spirit stung with his serpent’s venom a man of evil

4 cf 4 Toledo 25 (AD 633) ‘All ages from adolescence incline towards wrong, and
nothing is as unstable as the life of an adolescent’. As a result of this philosophy young
novices were kept together under the charge of an elder monk ‘in order that they might
spend the years of this capricious age not in indulgence but in ecclesiastical discipline.’

5 The unwillingness of holy men to take up ecclesiastical office is a common feature of
hagiography, see VSA 12, VSF 18. Bede tells a similar story from seventh century
England of St Cuthbert, Life of Saint Cuthbert 24 (= PL 94 763-765). For the importance
of popular approval in the appointment of bishops see Gregory of Tours, VP 6.4.

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

mind, 6 and poured from itself allegations of crimes into his entrails like
cups of poison so that spewing forth disgraceful slander which he made
all the greater through his own malign nature, he defamed the athlete of
God. 7 He won over some colleagues to his cause and, deceiver that he
was, forged certain documents to incriminate the servant of the Saviour.
At that time Theuderic, 8 a man of extreme stupidity, ruled with
Brunhilda, a woman who enthused over the worst vices and was a great
friend to the wicked. 9 Both of them made a pact with a certain lady who
was of noble stock, but deformed in mind. Though called Justa, she was

6 Though unnamed, this is likely to be Protadius, Brunhilda’s lover. He received honours
in the same year that Desiderius was exiled (Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron. 4.24) and became
Major Domus of the palace two years later at Brunhilda’s instigation (Psuedo-Fredegar,
ChronA.21).

7 cf 1 Corinthians 9.25, 2 Timothy 2.5 and especially in this context 4 Maccabees 6.10
where Eleazar endures torture like a noble athlete.

8 i.e. Theuderic II of Burgundy (AD 596-613), son of Childebert II and grandson of
Brunhilda.

9 Brunhilda’s political career would merit a book in itself. Born c.AD 545-550, a
daughter of the Visigothic King Athanagild, she was married to Sigibert of Austrasia.
(Unlike the Frankish princess Ingund who refused to abandon her Catholicism when
married to the Goth Hermenegild, Brunhilda had no scruples about abandoning her
Arianism for the Trinitarianism of the Franks.) After Sigibert’s assassination in AD 575,
she governed as regent for their son Childebert II. Rouche [1986], noting Brunhilda’s
philoRoman tendencies, sees her rule as a direct imitation of that of the Great Empress-
mothers of the Byzantine Empire. Childebert reached his majority in AD 585 and on the
death of King Guntrum in AD 592 acquired the Kingdom of Burgundy. However his
sudden death in AD 596 led to the two kingdoms remaining separate entities. Both were
ruled by sons of the dead King, Austrasia by Theudebert II (aged 9) and Burgundy by
Theuderic II (aged 7). Brunhilda remained in Austrasia until at least AD 602 (Pseudo-
Fredegar, Chron. 4.19 places her expulsion in AD 599; Gregory the Great however,
Register 8.4, 9.213, was still urging the Queen to help reform the Austrasian Church in
AD 602). The Austrasian nobility then finally forced her from the court and as a result
she fled to Burgundy where she was well received (Kurth [1891] believes the account of
the expulsion to be a fiction of Pseudo-Fredegar’s). Here she exercised a dominant role
in the Kingdom’s politics until her death in AD 613. Sisebut’s account of the Queen is
extremely hostile as are all later accounts of her life (e.g. the anonymous Passio
Desiderii ), but earlier accounts such as those of Gregory of Tours are far more neutral in
tone. Gregory the Great corresponded with the Queen in friendly tones, thanking her in
particular for her help to the mission to England. For a revisionist account of the Queen’s
life which perhaps overstates its case see Kurth [1891]. A more balanced discussion of the
Queen’s policy is provided by Rouche [1986]. For the process of her demonisation see
Nelson [1978].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

in fact a wicked woman. She had a glorious name, but her acts were all
the more inglorious for it. While lacking in goodness, she was possessed
of an astounding number of vices, and, though a stranger to the truth,
was never dissociated from crime. Summoned before the council, she
made complaint that she had once been ravished by the most blessed
Desiderius. 10 All were amazed that the servant of God should have been
implicated in such things, but thought that the charges against him
would be cast aside. Those presiding, however, in accordance with
schemes they had devised beforehand, pronounced in their rash temerity
a most unjust sentence against an innocent man. Straightaway men were
sent to carry out his punishment. They stripped him of his office and
banished him into exile to a monastery on an island. 11 His exile was the
highest good fortune, these insults made his sanctity all the more
obvious, and his degradation brought him that happiness which lasts for
eternity. 12 In his place was appointed a false priest, Domnolus, a servant
of the devil, who soiled himself by his disgraceful deeds to the same
degree that the man of God flourished through his manifold virtues.

5 Indeed in that monastery, while the blessed martyr was leading his
blessed life, a poor man came and made some gestures to ask for alms,
for his mouth had been closed by dumbness since birth and an
everlasting silence had shrouded his ability to speak. The almighty
Father was not unheedful of the prayers of his soldier, granted a
miracle, and made him speak. According to what we have heard, it was
impossible to conceal the good deed that had occurred, and reports
spreading everywhere brought it to the attention of the multitudes;
whence it came about that a host cf the sick hastened to him in the hope
of recovering their health nor did the works of the Lord fail to come
forth to cure those for whom the servant of God had prayed to the Lord
our Saviour.

10 Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron 4.24, places this incident at the Council of Chalons-sur-Sadne
held in AD 603. There is no mention of Justa here or the rape allegation here; Desiderius’
opponents are named as Brunhilda and Aridius the bishop of Lyons.

11 This is named as Livisium by the Passio (ch.3). Its location is unknown.

12 Sisebut’s account is in stark contrast to that given by the anonymous Life of Arigius
of Vapin (printed in AB 11) ch.l 1 where Desiderius is said to be on the verge of suicide
because of the accusations made against him and is only consoled by the ministrations of
Arigius.

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

6 It is sufficient, I think, to have given a general account about the
cures he brought about; but lest elegant diction should open the door to
those reading with a critical eye to complain that this is far too brief, I
have made the point of recording in this work to the best of my ability
some particular instances of his deeds. Some old men who lived always
in darkness and dwelt in night having no sight, were called back through
the grace of God to the longed-for bright light of day by the prayers of
the Soldier of the Lord which cast aside their terrible veil of darkness.

[When three lepers were cured by the holy Desiderius]

7 After this, three lepers oppressed by the burden of their sickness came
to him to be cured. 13 A disfiguring leucosis had entered their bodies and
their wretched limbs were covered with scars. There was an unbearable
stench and a vile, unspeakable yellowish flux was eating away the
scabbed skin from their scalps and tearing out from its roots in a
horrible fashion almost all their shorn hair 14 from the festering
contagion. 15 The servant of God took their afflictions from the sufferers
and restored them hale and hearty to their proper health. 16

8 While the Lord was bringing such things to pass through the kindness
that is his wont, the talk of the people brought to the attention of
Theuderic and Brunhilda alike that the servant of God had been exalted
through his magnificent miracles and that, through the grace of the
power of the Almighty, he had been given power to heal which could

13 It is highly likely that as Desiderius performed healing miracles one of them would
involve lepers. However Sisebut’s singling out of this incident may have other intentions.
Leprosy was seen as a disease of the soul as well as of the body and as an allegory for
heresy (Isidore, Allegoriae 221 = PL 83 127 & Quaestiones in veins testamentum. In
Leviticum 10-12 = PL 83 327-330) and sin - Isidore saw in the leper cured by Christ an
allegory for the world polluted by sin cured by his incarnation {Allegoriae 150 = PL 83
118). The disease was also commonly connected with sexual licentiousness. The incident
could therefore be seen as a demonstration of Desiderius’ Orthodoxy and of his innocence
of the charge brought against him. For a general discussion of leprosy see Brody [1974].

14 Lepers’ hair was often shorn to mark them as outcasts from the community, see Lavaur
21 (AD 1368).

15 cf Julian of Toledo, Hist.Wamb. 19.

16 A much shorter account is found in Passio 6.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

not be denied. At once trembling and filled with the great dread, they
looked into this great matter, seeking to know how they might return to
the exile his rightful office or whether they should make the man they
had condemned in vain an exile for ever. While they were carefully
investigating the solution of this problem, divine vengeance justly fell
upon the sorcerer who had devised the fell plan and had brought about
the condemnation of the soldier of Christ. I have written of his horrible
end in full detail in the account which follows. This poisonous
individual of ill-omened memory was detested for his many vices and
crimes. Amongst his vile habits was a criminal lust for material
possessions and love of slander. These were the things which roused up
a great host of the people to kill this vile monster. For one day while
he was standing in the presence of his patron, Theuderic, he was
dragged to his destruction by a rioting mob of Burgundians. His bloody
corpse was ripped apart and left scattered around. 17 In this way the
wretch lost both his life and his damnable soul and on the point of his
death of his own free will entered the gates of Hell. 18

9 What shall I say of her who was unjustly called Justa and might justly
have been called Injusta? Whom the bloody one had carried off as if she
were his own possession? At the same time when he of whom we have
just spoken rightly perished, with equal justice a evil spirit entered her
and this deadly slave coming again from his hellish dwelling place
drove out the entire stock of lies which she had once devised; the
confession produced was as follows: ‘I know that I have done wrong to
a servant of God, I know the cause of this, and I know all the more the
penalty that I deserve. Let the Almighty Avenger allot the blame for
these things to their deviser, Brunhilda. Let Him bring down this
penalty on her in His vengeance, and let His avenging right hand inflict
on her the torments of torture; she whose fleeting blandishments
dragged me to my doom, whose damnable gifts brought me to death,
and whose fatal promises to being beyond hope of salvation.’ When she
stopped speaking, the author of all sin put an end to her life, bound and

17 Protadius was lynched by Burgundian troops at Quierzys while campaigning with
Theuderic II against his brother, Theudebert II, in 605 AD, Psuedo-Fredegar, Chron. Ml.

18 Presumably Sisebut is implying that as a sorcerer Protadius, when attacked, called on
the devil to deliver him.

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

choked as she was, and carried her off with him to bum for ever among
the flames of vengeance.

10 On hearing of their agents’ death, both Brunhilda and Theuderic
were panic-stricken. 19 They were all the more afraid as they thought that
these things had been brought about by divine judgement, and, lest they
should pay a similar price, feigning piety, ordered that the man of God
who had been taken from his See in vain should be appointed once
more to govern the church for which he longed. Desiderius did not heed
their pleas and declared firmly that he would stay where he had been
exiled. Again and again they begged him not to deny them his presence,
to be clement, and to forgive their deceitful scheming. This sincere
repentance softened his sincere heart and its abundant benevolence
opened the way for the servant of God’s return. 20 When the blessed man
appeared before them, these wretches flung themselves at his feet,
striving to be well thought of by a man whom they had once exiled
through a fraudulent judgement and that he might expiate from so great
a crime certain others whom a deadly association had involved in their
crimes. He in his clemency pardoned what they had done and, as the
Lord tells us to, did not remember the trespasses of those who had
wronged him, but forgave them. 21

11 Then when Domnulus and his great host had been expelled from the
church in dishonour, Vienne rejoiced and received back her steersman.
They rejoiced that the sick had found their doctor, the oppressed their
consolation, and that the hungry now had food. The Lord granted a host
of blessings to the church at Vienne; for the presence of the holy man,
bringing God’s mercy on them, put an end to the calamity of natural
disasters, the many terrible plagues, and the wild riots which afflicted
the whole city: things which had indubitably befallen them because of
their shepherd’s absence when he had been banished.

19 In fact Brunhilda managed to bring about the demise of two of those who took the lead
in killing her favourite, having one, Uncelen, mutilated and stripped of his wealth
(Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron. 4.28) and another, the Patrician Wulf, executed (Pseudo-
Fredegar, Chron . 4.29).

20 Desiderius was recalled from exile in AD 607, Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron.4.32.

21 Luke \\ A.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

12 I have decided to speak of three of his miracles, though my feeble
narration afflicted as it is by a lack of skill will scarce manage to
achieve this. Once when a huge crowd came to visit him and he ordered
that they should be furnished with food and drink as is the custom, he
was told by a servant that the wine most in demand was the shortest in
supply. He swiftly ordered that the jar from which this wine had come
be shown to him and, when he had made the sign of the cross over it,
through the grace of the Saviour it became full of a noble, fragrant
wine. 22 In this way the crowd which had gathered were filled by both
his blessing and this wondrous drink. 23

13 Again when he had mortified his body through a long and rigorous
fast and punished it by reining in the desires of the flesh for a time, not
because of his worldliness, but to discipline himself, a fellow priest
came to visit him in a place not far from the city. Amongst the other
topics in their friendly conversation was one about divine portents. And
when Phoebus passed through the day’s span and had crossed the
meridian of the hours 24 and the appointed time to eat was nigh,
suddenly, cutting through the heavens a she-eagle, the queen of birds,
appeared in the shimmering sky, flying swiftly with her whirring
wings. 25 She was carrying prey from the sea and set a creature of the
waters 26 before them. They took it with great joy and dined upon it,
giving thanks to the Lord our Provider. 27

14 Some time before his glorious martyrdom, it happened that he lit a
lamp by the altar, filling it with his own hands, whence it poured forth
afar its beams of light. Though no one had refilled it, the oil grew

22 cf the wedding at Cana, John 2.6-10.

23 cf Passio 5.

24 cf Virgil, Aeneid 6.535-536. The emphasis may reflect Sisebut’s own interest in
astronomy.

25 cf Dracontius, De Laud. Dei 1 240-1 (= PL 60 711) ‘then departed through the heavens
the feathered flying tribe in whirring flight, striking the air with their wings.’

26 cf Ausonius, ep. 24.19.

27 cf the Crow which brought bread to Saints Paul and Antony in the desert, Jerome,
Vit.PaulAO. The Passio makes this link with Antony explicit. See also / Kings 17.6 where
ravens feed Elijah as he makes his stand against King Ahab. The parallel is particularly
apt for Sisebut given the influence of Jezebel over Ahab.

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

greater and became too much for the vessel. 28 Indeed the lees of the
overflowing oil is gathered with great veneration and through God’s
grace puts to flight the pain of sickness, restoring those suffering from
illness and bringing them health once more. Let these outstanding events
which my feeble style has been able to outline suffice as an account of
his life. 29

15 Now with the Lord’s aid, I will give an account, as it has been
reported to me, of his sufferings and how he commended his blessed
soul to our almighty Lord. When Theuderic and Brunhilda were seen
not to be helping, but harming their realm, ruining rather than ruling it,
to be full of vice, and, falling back into the sin of perjury, sacrilegiously
abandoning the promises of their oath, treacherously not attempting to
live up to it, nor leaving one single crime or evil unattempted, the
martyr of God, bishop and examiner of their sins, sounded forth the
trumpet blast in the manner of the prophets and whole-heartedly took
himself off to drive out all their sins in order that he might make God’s
people those whom the devil had made strangers to him, 30 mindful of
this saying of divine authority: He which converteth the sinner from the
error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a
multitude of sins 3 ] But the vessel of wrath 31 the fomentor of vice, and
fruit of damnation brought them bitterness not sweetness, harshness not
gentleness, and balms that brought death instead of salvation. The
enemy besieged their hearts all the more fiercely and the cunning
serpent held them captive in his power. Nor were they whom the deadly
brigand had bound in ever tighter chains able to walk freely to the gate
of salvation. Sated with his lethal drafts, they began to bark out rabid
rantings against the servant of God, spewing forth their disgusting words
in raucous tones. But mortal threats did not break the martyr of God,
nor did the wrath of perjurers weaken him, nor the frenzy of the mad

28 cf the miracle performed by St Martin of Tours, Sulpicius Severus, Dial 2.3, where the
saint makes oil flow from a phial sent to him.

29 cf Passio 3 where the miracle is said to have happened in Desiderius’ period of exile.

30 cf Pseudo-Fredegar’s account of St Columban’s encounter with Theuderic and
Brunhilda. This also involves a capitulation by the secular rulers to the holy men followed
by their reneging on their undertakings, Pseudo-Fredegar, ChronA36.

31 James 5.20.

32 Romans 9.22.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

move him. He held himself immobile to suffer in order that justice be
carried out until he should receive from the Lord the promised heavenly
realm.

16 The enemy of mankind, on seeing his steadfast constancy, occupied
completely the hearts of Brunhilda and Theuderic which he never left,
treating them as if they were his own home, and in imperious tones
drove them all the more to the doom which they deserved, for he
promised them the foremost place in the execution of justice if they
could extract the soul of Christ’s soldier from its mortal chains. 33
Straightaway the king’s sacrilegious mouth, full of foul speech and ever
ready-armed with impiety in debate, snarled out his sentence: ‘It pleases
us to see Desiderius, critic of our life 34 and enemy of our deeds, stoned 35
and afflicted with all manner of tortures.’ 36 Swiftly his servants and
accomplices in crime who were sinfully to carry out the command to do
this vile deed gave their word that they would do so without as much
as listening to the sentence. Nor did the struggles of his task lie hidden
to the martyr of God, who had been marked out, or rather forewarned,
to receive as his prize the crown of martyrdom.

33 Sisebut’s pun here is that Theuderic and Brunhilda will indeed have the foremost place
in imposing their justice on Desiderius, but they will also find themselves to the fore when
divine judgement is meted out

34 According to Dill [1926] 193, ‘Merovingian Kings enjoyed all the freedom and variety
of the East in their conjugal relations.’ In fact the Merovingians do not seem to have
abandoned polygamy until the seventh century, NcNamara and Wemple [ 1976]. Theuderic,
while never marrying, sired four bastards. It is unsurprising, therefore, that Desiderius
found much about which to complain. The king was also criticised for living with
concubines by St Columban who refused to bless his bastard children and was exiled as
a consequence, Jonas, Vita Columbani 32-47 (= PL 87 1029-1038). Sisebut may have
intended his readers to draw a parallel between Theuderic’s treatment of Desiderius with
that of Herod Antipas towards John the Baptist described at Matthew 14.3-12, both being
sinners and under the control of a woman.

35 For stoning as a punishment in Merovingian Gaul, see Gregory of Tours, HF 3.36 (the
lynching of the tax-collector Parthenius), 4.49 (an official military punishment inflicted
by Childebert on some of his own troops), 9.35 (a mob attack on Count Waddo), and
10.10 (a civil punishment inflicted by Childebert on his major-domo, Chundo).

36 Pseudo-Fredegar, ChronA. 32, makes Brunhilda and Aridius of Lyons the prime movers
in Desiderius’ condemnation.

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

17 When he saw his pre-ordained day, he was dragged all of a sudden
from the bosom of his church by the hands of infidels 37 and led to
execution like an innocent man condemned to die. A huge crowd wept
piteously that the care of so great a shepherd had been taken from them,
crying out thus: ‘Why holy father do you desert your sheep? Why are
you leaving your flock to perish? Do not, we beg you, send us into the
jaws of wolves, lest we, your sheep, who until now have fed on the
sweet nectar of flowers, should, without our bishop to watch over us, be
cut and blooded by tearing thorns and sharp briers. For this will surely
happen and is in accordance with scripture which says that the absence
of the shepherd scatters the sheep for his presence is their greatest
boon. 38 In no wise will we let you be tom from us. And if the life we
desired is denied us, we can endure with you a glorious death.’ To this
the blessed martyr replied calmly: ‘Your resolve is to be admired, but
your devotion to me cannot be praised. For if the Tartarean portals of
Hell besiege us, the gates of that deadly inferno try to close upon us, if
the terrible crackling flames of the pit attempt to overwhelm us, it will
be better to fight the enemy with spiritual weapons. Now since we are
summoned to serve in the heavenly host, we all believe truly that we
shall return among the gleaming squadrons of angels, the apostles and
those who took up their teaching, and the resplendent companies of
martyrs. Allow, I beg you, your shepherd to go to the shepherd of all
shepherds so that the whole flock, its shepherd going on before them,
might more easily come to the place which has been made ready for
them.’

18 So he spoke, and suddenly a raging throng of madmen appeared,
bringers of death, terrible to look upon, with savage expressions, brutal
eyes, of hateful appearance, and terrible in the way they moved. They
had twisted minds, depraved morals, lying tongues, spoke in obscenities,
and while haughty in appearance they were empty of substance and thus
vile both within and without. Paupers in goodness, but wealthy in evil
and enslaved to wickedness, they were enemies of God, though eternal
friends indeed of the devil, men all too willing to be damned. This

37 The Passio says that Desiderius was arrested by three Counts: Effa, Gaisefred, and
Beto.

38 cf Matthew 26.31, Mark 14.27, Zechariah 13.7.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

accursed band, vile madness giving them their arms, 39 seized him and
their stony heart poured a rain of stones over the martyr of God. The
terrible missiles flung by the madmen missed him: the harsh nature of
flints turned aside in its flight, and the very sound of the stoning
showed itself to be the servant of the servant of God. The stones,
though not living, were alive to God’s laws and yielded to the Deity.
Human hearts, which could have turned and drawn near to pity, alone
remained unmoved. As he breathed out his spirit, one of them seized a
club and broke the holy man’s neck. 40 Thus his soul abandoning its
fleshy guise and freeing itself from corporal chains, joined triumphant
with its colleagues in the starry heavens. 41

19 In this unskilled way I have given, to the best of my ability, an
account both of the life and of the death of Christ’s soldier, which,
although it may displease the learned through its excessive crudeness,
shall nonetheless, having cast aside verbal pomposity, ennoble the
humble and the believer. And now we have told of his life, miracles,
and his most glorious end, it remains to describe the perdition and death
of the sinners. When Theuderic, abandoning God or rather having been
abandoned by God, rejoiced at the news that the servant of God had
died, he was seized by a disease of the bowels, ended his vile life and
a friend of death came to possess it for eternity. 42

39 cf Aeneid 1.150. The context of this quotation seems particularly appropriate given
Sisebut’s description of Theuderic’s men, but it is unclear whether the King would have
known the whole Aeneid or just snippets of it.

40 cf Passio 9. This locates Desiderius’ place of martyrdom at Calonera, the modem St-
Didier-sur-Chaleronne. The account of the martyrdom is slightly different in form -
Desiderius is struck by a single stone and then beheaded with a sharpened rock. The
implications are also perhaps different; while in Sisebut’s account Desiderius is stoned to
death by decree of Theuderic, in the Passio it appears that he is lynched by Theuderic’s
troops because they cannot take him through the massed ranks of the local populace.

41 ‘Joined... heavens’ - forms a hexameter.

42 Theuderic died in AD 613, Pseudo-Fredegar, ChronA39. Prior to this he had defeated
Theudebert II and managed to reunited Burgundy and Austrasia, Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron ...
4.37-38. His death here sounds similar to the death of Arius as reported by Socrates,
Eccl.Hist. 1.38 (which in itself carries overtones of the death of Judas as described in Acts
1.18), given that the Visigothic Kingdom had only converted from Arianism in AD 579
the allusion would not have been lost on Sisebut’s audience.

LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAINT DESIDERIUS

20 Brunhilda, already lost and doomed to die, lost her source of
consolation 43 and in her fear was tortured within by pangs of conscience,
knowing that as her guilt placed her amongst the foremost in
committing the crime, the vengeance which followed would demand her
punishment all the more. While she pondered on these dark matters, she
declared war on her closest neighbours. 44 When the time of battle came
and the arrayed hosts came together, a terror inspired by God fell on the
troops of this most wicked woman whence their cowardly limbs
followed the fatal policy of seeking safety in flight. 45 So while they fled
in disorder before the face of their foes, the enemy of the Christian faith
and the deviser of all these crimes was taken by her enemies.

21 Concerning her end, it will not irk me to relate what I have learnt
from common opinion. 46 There is a hunched beast 47 with a huge body
and naturally possessed of certain humps (the top of its back is thick
and broad, higher than the rest of its frame, and very well fitted for
carrying loads) and is more useful for carrying loads than any other
animal. 48 She was stripped of her clothes and raised up onto this proud

43 She attempted to impose Sigebert, the eldest of Theuderic’s bastard children, though
only eleven years old, as king of Theuderic’s realm.

44 Sisebut is a little disingenuous here; Chlothar II of Neustria was invited into Austrasia
by a group of disaffected Austrasian aristocrats led by the founders of the Carolingian
dynasty, Amulf of Metz and Peppin. Sigebert and Brunhilda were thus forced to defend
themselves against external invasion supported by disaffected elements in their own
kingdom.

45 This battle took place on the River Aisne near Chalons-sur-Marne. According to
Pseudo-Fredegar, ChronAAl , Sigebert’s army fled on a pre-arranged signal. The king was
probably betrayed by Womacher, who was rewarded by Clothar by being made Major
Domus in perpetuo in Burgundy. It is intriguing therefore that Sisebut does not dwell on
how the unjust Queen was abandoned by her people, but rather implicates them, albeit as
cowards, in her crimes.

46 Sisebut’s account of the death of Brunhilda varies slightly from that of Pseudo-
Fredegar. While both agree that she was paraded naked on a camel, Pseudo-Fredegar,
ChronAAl , adds that prior to this she was tortured for three days and afterwards she was
bound to a single unbroken horse by her hair, one arm and one leg. The end result was,
of course, the same.

47 cf Jerome, Ep. 107.3, 120.1.

48 For camels in Merovingian Gaul see Gregory of Tours, HF 7.35. Sisebut seems
confused here as to whether he means a dromedary or Bactrian Camel. Both beasts were
known at the time; see Isidore, Etym. 12.1.35-36.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

central place and paraded in humiliation before the gaze of her
enemies. 49 For a short while she offered this sorry spectacle to her
onlookers, then, bound to some unbroken horses, she was dragged over
some pathless rocky terrain. Thus her body, already broken by old age,
was plucked apart by these spirited horses and her limbs, bloody and
nameless, scattered abroad. 50 And so her soul freed from its mortal flesh
was deservedly cast down to eternal punishment and to bum in seething
waves of pitch.

22 A more detailed account of these events and a fuller account of their
causes have escaped us. But lest I should anger the fastidious by being
long-winded, let us add some small things and then put an end and call
a halt to our tale, begging everyone as a community not to be unwilling
to accept that which our Lord Jesus Christ did not disdain to condone
through his martyrdom. Christ gave such a quantity of holiness to his
most venerable corpse that whenever anyone troubled by illness or
afflicted by a sickness of the flesh called with all his heart on his divine
spirit there, shaking off every disease and lesion, he came hale and
hearty to the health for which he had longed through the grace of God,
the one in three and everlasting. May He grant me, all unworthy, eternal
life and you, my audience, an abundance of grace.

49 George of Cappadocia suffered a similar fate in Alexandria, see Socrates, HE 3.2. The
practice was a standard form of Byzantine humiliation which parodied the consular
investiture ceremony and is last recorded as being inflicted on Andronicus Comenus in
AD 1185. It was imposed on the Armenian Arsaces in Byzantium by Justinian as the
penalty for treason, Procopius, BG 7.32.3. Thence it seems to have been adopted in the
Latin West. Count Argimund who was caught conspiring against Reccared in AD 590
suffered this fate, though he was paraded through Toledo on an ass rather than a camel,
see John of Biclarum, Chron. 94, and Duke Paul who led a rebellion against Wamba in
Septimania was, like Brunhilda, exhibited on a camel, Julian of Toledo, Hist.Wamb. 30
(= PL 96 796).

50 cf Aeneid 2.558.

Braulio of Saragossa

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR,

CALLED THE HOODED

To the priest Fronimian

1. Braulio, unworthy bishop of Caesaraugusta, to the man of God, my
Lord and brother, the priest Fronimian, greetings. 1

In the time of Bishop John, my lord of pious memory, an elder brother
by birth, 2 a man who shared our common holy calling and was a teacher
of the faith, I had intended in obedience to his orders and your
injunctions, along with my trust in the account which 1 had obtained
from the testimony given by the venerable abbot Citonatius, the priests
Sofronius and Gerontius, and Potamia, 3 that devout lady of holy
memory, to trace out with my pen, as far as my abilities and weakness
of health permitted, a clear-cut life of our exceptional Father and patron,
a man singled out by Christ in our times, the Blessed priest Aemilian.
But because a whole page containing the list of his powers was lost
through the negligence of my administrators when 1 was beginning to
work on what I should say, and I was then occupied by a succession of
disasters of all kinds and because of the troubles of the times I lost the
wish to write, so that, although you urged me on, I was unable to give
my heart to the task. But now, by God’s will, as it seems to me, when
I wanted to look at a certain book on something that had occurred to me

1 There is no need to take the use of brother here as indicative of anything other than a
spiritual bond between Braulio and Fronimian. Braulio was bishop of Saragossa from
c.AD 631 to AD 651. In his correspondence with Fronimian he refers to his colleague as
a ‘priest and abbot’. The absence of the title here suggests VS A was written before
Fronimian’s elevation and that there was no monastic foundation on the site of Aemilian’s
tomb as sometimes claimed. Eugene II of Toledo (see DVI 13) refers to a church of holy
Aemilian (Carm 11) our earliest evidence for monastic activity dates from the tenth
century AD.

2 See DVI 5.

3 A short life, probably entirely inspired by VSA, exists for Potamia, see F6rotin [1902]
& [1902a]. No material concerning the other three individuals named here has survived.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

and ordered it found and the pile of books was gone through, that long-
lost account, all unsought for, since even the eagerness of those looking
for it had come to an end through despair of ever finding it, was
suddenly found. However, as the prophet says, 7 was found of those
that sought me not' 4 my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth , 5 not
through zeal to light a candle, but with the joy of coming across a silver
piece. 6 And so at last, believing this task not to be without divine
dispensation, I have steeled my soul that I might pluck the fruit of
obedience and comply with your frequent petitions.

2. Therefore I have written to the best of my ability and in a plain and
open style such as befits these matters, 7 a short tract on the life of this
holy man, in order that it might be read out as swiftly as possible at the
Mass held in his honour. I have sent it to you, my Lord, and taken care
to put this letter of mine at its head, committing it to your judgement
for approval. I have one reservation. If anything in it displeases you,
correct it or excise it. But if it pleases you as it is, and your good will
allows it, let it be published and give thanks on my behalf to our
Creator, to whom all good things belong. I wish, moreover, that as that
most Holy man, the priest Citonatius, and Gerontius are still alive, that
they should review beforehand all that I have written and thoroughly
discuss it. Let them confirm that I have made no errors either of names
or events. I have also added at the end of this little book, just as you
told me of them, those miracles worked in that same place which I

4 Romans 10.20.

5 Psalm 16.9.

6 cf Luke 15.8.

7 This is a reference to Braulio’s use of the sermo humilis. The self-conscious use of
‘lowly speech’ was a deliberate rejection of classical rhetorical standards. Initially a
defence of the style of Christian writings, always regarded as of a low standard by pagan
opponents, the espousal of the sermo humilis evolved into a fully-fledged doctrine where
it was argued that only a lowly style would make divine glories accessible to man.
Moreover the sermo humilis, it was argued, was not devoid of profound thought, but
eschewed an ‘arrogant’ style which would put its teachings beyond the reach of the
common man. Thus it allowed anyone who approached it in a spirit of humility to reach
its inner doctrines. For a lengthy discussion see Auerbach [1965].

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

learned about from you last year. 8 In addition, I have sent a hymn
written in Senaric iambics for the feast of the Holy man as you asked. 9
I thought it superfluous to compose a sermon for the same day, since I
can think of no greater exhortation to the good life than an account of
his virtues and it would take a whole hour if a sermon were added and
so burden the spirits of those who are listening.

3. Therefore I beg that what I have composed be accepted both by
yourself with whose instructions I have complied and by him the love
of whose powers has roused the aforementioned men to testify to these
noteworthy things and made all of you witnesses everyday to similar
acts. You have succeeded in your request that these things ought to be
recorded by me and I myself am seized with the desire of receiving my
reward, as I have done as you have commanded. In order that Low
Mass might be recited on the same solemn occasion, I have given this
task to my beloved son, the deacon Eugene, 10 thinking it would not be
out of character for me if, for the honour of this most blessed man, the
tongue of a man whom I consult in all my plans and counsels should
give life to my task, bearing in mind that as 1 have him as a confidant
in all other matters I should enjoy his sharing the reward in this task. 11
May the grace of Christ deem it worthy to keep your blessed self safe
and mindful of me.

8 i.e. at San Mill&n de Suso where Aemilian was buried. There is no reason to think that
this was a monastic establishment Eugene II of Toledo (see n.l above) mentions a
'basilica of Holy Aemilian’ in his eleventh poem.

9 PL 80 713-716. Senaric iambics (a six-footed line where the basic rhythmic unit, the
iambus, is a foot composed of a short followed by a long syllable) had been a common
metre of the Roman theatre. St Hilary adopted it for some of his hymns, e.g. his fefellit
saevum (PLS 1 275-6), it was however the stricter lambic Dimeter, used by Ambrose (see
PL 1171-1222), which became the normal metre of hymns in the West. See DVI 11 for
the fame of Braulio’s hymns.

10 Later Eugene II of Toledo, see DVI 13. Again there is no need to see anything other
than affection for a younger colleague in Braulio’s use of ‘son’.

11 An office for S Milldn can be found in F6rotin [1912] 603-8. Lynch [1938] 223-4
argues that this is by Eugene.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Preface

4. The newness of the outstanding miracles of the apostolic and most
pure man, the priest Aemilian, which were performed in almost in our
own times urges me to write of them, but the immensity of the task of
telling the tale is foreboding. For can the pen of a man given over to
earthly things be brought to set forth in a worthy fashion the deeds of
a heavenly man, who when compared to bygone ages shines forth
gleaming like the brightest star, and in comparison to men of the present
day is outstanding in his inimitable virtue? Nor do I think if the springs
of Tully 12 were to pour out the tale and come gushing forth in copious
streams of eloquence and a host of ideas create a lush supply of words,
could all those things from the time when he spumed earthly things
down to his leaving of his body and our world which Christ who only
doeth wondrous things 13 has and is working by grace through him be
expounded. When I look upon this, fear fills my soul, since I have not
an abundance but a lack of learning, a dearth not a plentitude of words,
and am much practised in being unpracticed. However the truth of
Christ’s promise drives out my fear, Who promised us and taught us
this, saying: ‘ Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it ;’ 14 and elsewhere:
The Lord shall give words to evangelists, words of great worth. 15 He
also said this: 7/ is not ye that speak but the spirit of your father which
speaketh inyoufi 6 These words are most fitting in my case, and so the
soul is uplifted and the dart of fear turned aside. And, behold, what the
soul once feared it is eager to start upon with firm tread, comforting
itself with Your great power, Christ, because You Who allowed a beast
of burden to speak with the words of a man, 17 can grant that a man
should speak in a manner befitting his task. To which reasons can be
added one that seems especially to touch upon the citadel of my soul
and the anchor of my hope: that without undertaking this work and
receiving the reward for my labour, I believe that I shall not obtain any

i.e. Cicero.

13 Psalm 72.18.

14 Psalm 81.10.

15 cf Psalm 67.12.

16 Matthew 10.20.

17 cf Numbers 22.28.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

means by which, as if with a sort of soap, I shall be able to cleanse my
vile and polluted life. 18 As once one of the old poets most eloquently
put it, ‘This work, this perhaps will deliver me from the fire.’ 19

5. It finally remains to say that I prefer to hand down an account in
these wretched pages than hide these deeds in a smothering silence, lest
the long reticence of their ancestors should make posterity doubt the
truth of these matters. But in order to reply briefly to those who
struggle to display their eloquence, let them know that the abuse of
detractors has but little weight, as the law of the Church does not set
empty verbosity as something for humble and lowly Christians to pursue
nor the superficiality of human complaints, nor yet bombastic
ostentation, but the sober, modest, and weighty profundity of the truth.
It is indeed better to tell the truth in a less than educated fashion than
eloquent fictions, as can easily be learnt from the Gospels of the
Saviour which preach to the people in simple language. 1 do not because
of my ineptitude revile the eloquence of wise men, but will not at all
condone the fleeting frivolity of frckerers. For 1 do not think that noble,
wise, and mature men could be angry with me because of my appetite
for this task: men who are in no way ignorant that in the house of the
Lord it behoves each one of us to offer that which his faculties provide,
even down to all work of goats’ hair. 20 If they too wish to say
something about this matter, as I have said, not only will they not fall
short of material, but in fact they will be unable to expound it all.
Wherefore although I have in part cleaved to the study of the things of
this world, here I have altogether spumed them, lest I should make my
account difficult to understand for the less educated and throw the camp
of Israel into confusion with the language of Jericho. 21

6. Therefore, as I am about to relate the things of which I have decided
to speak, I wish to warn my readers and listeners to come and hear not
from an eagerness for fine words, but full of faith. If there is someone
looking for the former, let him get hence lest he should tarry fruitlessly.

18 cf Jeremiah 2.22.

19 Juvencus ifl.AD 330) Libri Evangeliorum , praef ,1.22.

20 Numbers 31.20.

21 cf Joshua 6.18.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

But if he wishes to know about the things which follow, let him come
devoutly to learn of them. First, let him know that there are certain
deeds in this account which most certainly ought to followed by us or
by anyone, but there are others which were bestowed singularly upon
that most worthy man and cannot be imitated by anyone without
bringing about their own destruction: acts which however ought through
admiration to make us eager to praise God. 22 For the generality of
mankind should keep to our general precepts, and only those upon
whom almighty God has decreed that special gifts be given ought to
take hold of these gifts, as indeed is the view of those leamdd in law
concerning benefits obtained through the decree of earthly rulers.

7.1 shall not go back far into the past, nor shall 1 follow the rules of the
orators 23 and set forth the praises of his grandfathers and great¬
grandfathers, since, as these selfsame men would say, if he was sprung
from lowly stock, he ought be praised all the more as he adorned the
lowliness of his birth with the nobility of his way of life. Let us
therefore begin our tale, with Christ’s favour and the prayers of the
blessed man himself aiding our efforts, from the time of his conversion
which occurred in the twentieth year of his life. The venerable priests
of the churches of Christ, Citonatius, a man of a holy and most pure
life; and Sofronius and Gerontius, presbyters in whom the church has
no small faith, gave me a reliable account of what they themselves had
seen. To these most worthy witnesses can be added the testimony of the
most devout Potamia of blessed memory, who ennobled the nobility of
her birth with a yet more noble way of life. 24 1 have chosen to take
these four as witnesses of the miracles which he performed in the flesh,
setting aside the testimonies of towns and provinces on matters of this
sort to which almost all of Spain bears witness. For we must pass over
those deeds which happened so frequently that they were almost a daily
occurrence, since it would be impossible, as 1 have already said, to
include them all. If anyone wants to know about them, he will believe
more easily those that he has seen.

22 A similar warning is given in chapter 23 of the Life ; cf Gregory the Great Dial 1.1.6.

23 Another reference to Braulio’s use of the sermo humilis; see n.7 above.

24 Was Potamia one of the ‘maidens of Christ’ with whom Aemilian spent his declining
years?

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

The Life

I. Of the conversion of the Holy Man

8. Therefore, as I had started to say, my witnesses relate that he was
converted and came to the religious life in the following way. The
future shepherd of men was a shepherd of sheep which he used to drive
into the depths of the mountains and, as is the custom with shepherds,
he took a harp with him, 25 lest tiredness should impede his idle mind,
left with nothing to do, from guarding his flock. 26 When he arrived at
the place ordained by heaven, a divinely-inspired sleep flooded over
him. Then that craftsman who makes hearts clean performed his task
with his customary dedication and turned the material of the cithara into
an instrument of learning and roused up the mind of a shepherd to the
contemplation of heavenly things. When he woke, he thought on the
heavenly life and leaving the countryside went off to the wilderness.

II. He goes to a monk at Buraddn

9. Rumour had told him that a certain hermit called Felix, 27 a most Holy
Man, to whom he could not unworthily offer himself as a disciple, was
then living in Buraddn. 28 He hurried to him, and when he had eagerly
entered his service, was taught by him how he could guide his wavering

25 'Cithara’ the same instrument that King David, also a shepherd in his youth, is said to
play in the Bible, 1 Samuel 16.

26 The thirteenth-century poet Gonzalo de Berceo whose Vida de San Millan de la
Cogolla is heavily based on Braulio adds, stanza 3, that Aemilian was bom in Berceo, a
village approximately one mile from San Mill&n de Suso, the probable site of Aemilian’s
oratory. This could of course be pleading by a parti pris as Gonzalo was a monk at San
Mill&n de Yuso. For commentaries on Berceo’s work see Dutton [1967] and [1992] both
in Spanish.

27 St Felix’s remains were transferred to the monastery of San Mill&n de la Cogolla in
AD 1090.

28 ‘Castrum Bibilense’. This is the point where the River Ebro enters the plains of La
Rioja in the province of Logrofio. A further modem name is Las Conchas de Haro.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

footsteps towards the heavenly kingdom. 29 By this act he teaches us, I
believe, that no one can successfully journey towards the blessed life
without the instruction of teachers. 30 This man did not do so, nor was
this the command that Christ gave to Paul nor did the Holy Spirit allow
Samuel to do this. This man was told to go to the hermit, Paul to
Annias, 31 and Samuel to Eli, 32 although they had all been roused up by
signs and words.

III. He comes to the place where his oratory is built

10. After he had been well taught the paths of life by this man and been
greatly enriched by the wealth of instruction and treasures of salvation,
he returned to his own country, full of the grace of religious learning
and thus came to a place not far from the village of Berceo 33 , where his
glorious body now lies. 34 He did not delay there long, for he saw that

29 Berceo, stanza 14, adds that the saint went by Valpiri - the site of the battle which
liberated Fem£n Gonzalez, Count of Castile, in AD 945. The Count who was a benefactor
of the monastery of San Mill£n (if the 12th-century copies of the charters referring to him
in the monastery cartulary are to be trusted), had adopted Aemilian as his personal saint.
Berceo’s addition here could simply be an attempt to link the count and his saint.
However, if the poet is preserving a genuine link between Aemilian and Valpiri, it would
help to explain Gonzalez’s attraction to San Mill&n.

30 Such self-inspired hermits or Sarabaites were strongly frowned on by the early church,
see Benedict, Rule 1 and Isidore, De Eccl. Off. 2.16.9 (=PL 83 799). For attempts to
suppress such hermits see 4 Toledo 53 (AD 633) & 7 Toledo 5 (AD 646).

31 Acts 9.10-19.

32 1 Kings 3.

33 ‘Vergegium’. Berceo, op.cit. stanzas 27-28 adds a description of the valley of San
MillAn de Suso. A fifteenth century Spanish translation of Braulio’s Life {Real Academia
de Historia Ms Emil.59 fol 127v) identifies this place with San Millan de Suso, located
above the site of the monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla. This identification appears
to be secure. However a rival cult of San Mill&n arose in Aragon in the fifteenth-century
which asserted that his birthplace was Torrelapaja near Berdejo. For this dispute see
Gaiffier [1933].

34 Berceo op.cit. stanza 31 adds that Aemilian cleansed the area of snakes which became
fused into the rocks. The body of the saint was transferred to the lower church of San
Mill&n de Yuso which formed part of the monastery of San MillAn de La Cogolla in AD
1030, see Dutton [1967].

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

the crowd of men who came flocking to him would be a hinderance to
him.

IV. He goes hence to the wilderness and spends forty years there

11. He sought the heights, his eager spirit taking his steps lightly over
the difficult terrain, so that marching through the vale of sorrow 35 not
only with his heart but also with his body and going from virtue to
virtue, he seemed as if he was climbing Jacob’s Ladder. 36 When he
came to the more remote, secret places of Mount Dircetius, 37 staying as
near to the summit as the nature of the weather and the woods would
allow, he became a guest of the hills. Set apart from the company of
men and busying himself only with the consolations of the angels, he
dwelt there for the passage of 40 years. 38 What invisible, what visible
battles, what varied and cunning temptations, what mockeries of the
Ancient Wretch, he experienced there, they alone best know who say
that they themselves have experienced such things. He directed all his
desire, all his inclinations, all his aspirations, in sum, his entire life, to
his irrevocable first intent to be a devotee of the Holy. O how great a
gift! O how singular a man! O how outstanding a spirit! He was so
given to divine contemplation that it seems that this age can claim
nothing of him for itself. How many times, I imagine, did he, filled
with divine ardour, raise up his voice among those thick, lofty forests,
the towering summits of the hills, and the crags which reach towards

35 cf Psalm 24.3.

36 cf Genesis 28.12-13.

37 Probably located in the Sierra de la Demanda. Codex Misc. in the Archivo Historico
Nacional, /hs. 1007B f 69 v -70, dating to AD 932, refers to Mount Dircetius as the site of
the head-waters of the River Duero. Berceo, op.cit. stanza 47, refers to the saint living in
caves here. The region is full of rock-cut hermitages, see Azkarate Garai-Olaun [1988].

38 A clear parallel with Christ’s 40 days in the Wilderness and the Israelites’ 40 years of
wandering in the desert of Sinai. Berceo, op.cit ., stanza 49 refers to altars said to have
been built by Aemilian here. This tradition either grew up after Braulio’s life was written
or was suppressed by him. Similarly stanza 57 refers to a hermitage built by Aemilian
which is not found in Braulio’s Life. A sixteenth-century note appended to manuscript F
folio 128v of Berceo’s work at this point identifies the hermitage with a chapel of St
Laurence built on the summit of Mt. San Lorenzo, the highest point (7475ft) in the Sierra
de la Demanda, 2 miles south of San Mill&n de Suso.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

heaven, saying to Christ ‘Woe is me that my sojourn is prolonged’, 39
How many times sighing and groaning did he cry out, 7 have a desire
to depart and he with Christ .’ 40 How many times, moved in his
innermost being, did he most vehemently make lament, saying, ‘ While
we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.' ,4] Meanwhile
he was shaken by the cold, abandoned in solitude, soaked by the
unforgiving rain, and buffeted by blasts of the wind, but through the
love of God, the contemplation of Christ, and the grace of the Holy
Spirit, he not only tolerated, but willingly and eagerly endured the
violence of the cold, the desolation of loneliness, the onslaught of the
rain, and the harshness of the winds. However, since a city that is set
on a hill cannot be long hid 42 fame of his holiness spread to such a
degree that it came to the notice of almost everyone. 43

V. The Bishop Didymus assigns a church to him

12. When this news was brought to Didymus who then held the office
of bishop in Tarazona, 44 he pursued the man, wishing, as he was in his
diocese, to put him into Holy orders. At first it seemed a harsh and hard
thing to Aemilian to flee back, to return, to be, as it were, dragged from
heaven to earth, from the rest which he had now almost obtained to
wearying tasks, and to be taken back to the active from the
contemplative life. 45 Finally, he was unwillingly compelled to obey, 46

39 cf Psalm 120.5-6.

40 Philippians 1.23. Braulio’s selective quotation of Paul here is of interest. Paul is tom
between martyrdom and living to help the Philippians and concludes "I know that I shall
abide, yea, and abide with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith’. Braulio
completely suppresses the Apostle’s conclusion and hence reverses the sense of the
passage.

41 cf 2 Corinthians 5.6.

42 cf Matthew 5.14.

43 Berceo, op.cit. stanza 67, places the limits of Aemilian’s sojourn in the wilderness in
the Moncayo hills which form part of the Cordillera Iblrica in the provinces of Soria and
Saragossa. The nearby church of San Mill&n de Verdejo in Aragon was to lay claim to the
saint.

44 The town lies some 50 miles West North West of Saragossa.

45 The contemplative life was frequently regarded as far superior to that of a priest
ministering to a secular flock. See Athanasius, Letter to Dracontius (= PG 25 523-534)
and Gregory the Great Horn. Ezekiel 2.4.5-6 for attempts to refute this point of view.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

and so performed the office of presbyter in the church of Berceo. 47 Then
setting aside those things which men of that order, the men, that is, of
our day, are accustomed to dedicate themselves, he imparted his holy
care on this life to which he had been dragged back. In this however
through continual prayer, week-long fasts, perpetual vigils, true
discernment, sure hope, great frugality, kindly righteousness, firm
endurance, in short with the greatest austerity he tirelessly kept himself
from all evil things. 48 He so plucked flowers of knowledge from the
meadows of the ineffable Godhead that he who had scarcely committed
the eighth psalm to memory, 49 far surpassed without compare the ancient
philosophers of the world in practical knowledge, wisdom, and
sharpness of perception; 50 and not undeservedly, as what they had
obtained by worldly labour the Godhead gave him through heavenly
grace. Indeed, I conjecture, he was altogether like Saint Antony 51 and
Saint Martin in his calling, training, and performance of miracles. But,
in order to pass over many things, among his acts as a priest, this, I
declare, was his greatest labour: to drive Mammon out of the temple of
the Lord with vigour and wisdom as quickly as he could. 52 Wherefore

46 cf VSD 3 and the fate of Martin of Tours who was made a bishop against his will,
Sulpicius Severus, VSM 9. For problems between bishops and holy men see Robles
[1963].

47 Berceo, op.cit., stanza 106, states that the church was dedicated to Sta.Eulalia.

48 cf Sulpicius Severus, VSM 10 where St Martin continues his ascetic life while a bishop
and Bede, Life of Cuthbert 26 (= PL 94 766), where the same is said of St Cuthbert. For
this theme in general see Rousseau [1971].

49 Illiteracy in the priesthood was frowned upon, but seems to have been a common
problem. Narbonne 1 (AD 589) forbade bishops to ordain illiterates as priests and ordered
that any presently illiterate priest must learn to read and would suffer a loss of income if
his progress was deemed too slow. 2 Toledo 2 (AD 527) forbids educated priests to move
to another church to prevent a neighbouring diocese poaching them without paying for
their initial education. 4 Toledo 26 (AD 633) provides for a book of offices to be given
to priests in order that they can perform their duties correctly. This step, however, clearly
did not solve the problem as 8 Toledo 8 (AD 653) paints a dismal pictures of priests who
were ignorant of the Psalter, Canticles, hymns, and the service of baptism.

50 Braulio here emphasises that Aemilian outstripped his secular rivals in both the
classical divisions of knowledge, i.e. the theoretical and practical.

51 Antony was famously dismissive of book-learning, but unlike Aemilian had the entire
bible by heart (Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana 1 praefA).

52 cf Matthew 21.12, Mark 11.15, John 2.14.

LIVES OF THE VISOGOTHIC FATHERS

he shared the substance of Christ with the innermost parts of Christ, 53
making the Church of Christ wealthy again in virtues rather than riches,
in religion rather than rent, in Christians rather than chattels. For he
knew that he could be accused before Christ not for casting aside
temporal things, but for casting aside men.

VI. Clerks accuse the Holy Man before the bishop

13. Because of this, as is the custom among the worst sort of clerk,
some of his clerics came before Didymus to attack him on the grounds
of harming their communal property. 54 Slandering him, they declared
that the losses of the church were clear to behold and that the goods
which it had received had on all sides been diminished. Now the
aforementioned prelate was inflamed with torches of anger and eaten
through with envy because of Aemilian’s virtues. Looking at him, he
vehemently assailed the man of God. When he had belched forth the
intoxication of his anger (as a soul drunk with fury is want to do), the
man of God, fortified by his sanctity and protected by his forbearance,
stood there unmoved with his accustomed tranquillity. 55 After this he
was released from the ministry he had taken up, and passed the rest of
his life beyond reproach in the place which is now called his oratory. 56
Thus far his conversion and his life. Although those acts of grace which
were concealed are the more beautiful (those which the Lord established

53 Normally interpreted as meaning the poor.

54 cf Sulpicius Severus, Dial. 1.9, where St Jerome is said to have been hated by clerics
because he censured their depraved way of life. The alienation of church property was
later formally forbidden by 3 Toledo 3 (AD 589), however the principle would have been
in operation prior to this date.

55 cf VSD 15. The imperturbability of martyrs is a common theme in martyr accounts,
running back to the first martyr’s, St Stephen’s, steadfast calm in the face of his Jewish
opponents. Acts 7.55.

56 Berceo, op.cit ., stanzas 106-107, assumes that this was a return to his early haunts and
identifies these with San Mill&i de Suso. This is also the view of the fifteenth century
Spanish translator of the Life , RAH, Ms Emil.59 128v. The church of San Mill&n de Suso
is described by G6mez Moreno [1919] 288-309 & lam. 112-118. Further work on the site
was undertaken by Iftiguez Almech [1955]. The present church which probably dates to
the late 10th century AD incorporates rock-cut structures whiclr'may well have been
Aemilian’s oratory. It was severely damaged when it was sacked by Almanzor in AD
1002 . ' '

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

in these new struggles and which we have been taught in faith and truth
by Paul the teacher and captain 57 of the Gentiles) than those which have
brought themselves to light through various gifts of virtue, even these
latter are too many to be able to be written down. However I must set
down by what signs his glory shone forth, even if 1 proceed to do so in
an unworthy fashion.

VII. He wrestles with the devil

14. It came to pass one day that Enemy of the Human Race met the
Wrestler 58 of the Eternal King on the road, and addressed him with
these words, ‘If you want, let us fight and discover what each of us is
able to achieve with his strength.’ He had not finished saying this when
he advanced upon him and laid hold of him visibly and in the flesh. For
a long time he belaboured Aemilian who was scarcely able to fight
back. But when he earnestly called upon Jesus in prayer, divine aid
strengthened his trembling steps and he immediately vanquished the
fugitive, 59 apostate spirit, turning its body into air. 60 If, by chance, it
should seem incredible to anyone, that an indisputably invisible spirit
can, except in a mystical understanding, take physical form, let it be
revealed to him how the pages of Divine Scripture relate that Jacob
struggled with an angel, albeit a good one. 61 I, however, would say this:
that it took less audacity for Satan to tempt a servant than the Lord,
Aemilian than Christ, a man than God, a creature rather than the creator.

57 ‘Magister’ which would have both these overtones to Braulio’s audience.

58 cf Ephesians 6.12 and Passion of Sts Perpetua and Felicity 10.

59 Fugitive, ‘refuga’ had strong pejorative tones in Visigothic Spain, see 5 Toledo 12 &
8 Toledo praef, 1.

60 cf VSF 11 where the devil vanishes not into the air, but the earth. Berceo, op.cit. stanza
207, states that this was a famous encounter which took place by the church of San Pelayo
(now destroyed) located just below San Mill&n de Suso. Ms Emil 59 agrees and adds that
this church was founded to mark the event. A stone here reads ‘Here San Mill&n
vanquished Satan in the flesh.’ The church itself must have postdated Aemilian by at least
some 300 years as San Pelayo was bom in Saragossa in AD 911 and martyred in Cordoba
on the 26 June AD 925.

61 Genesis 32.24-32.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

VIII. He cures a monk

15. To return to the thread of my account: there was a certain monk,
Armentarius by name, afflicted with a painful swelling of the stomach
who came devotedly to Aemilian asking that his innermost parts be
cured. 62 When he had put his hand on the lump and traced the sign of
the cross there, the sickness left him at once and, having recovered his
health, he blessed the Lord. 63

IX. A paralysed woman is healed

16. A certain woman called Barbara who had contracted a paralysing
disease and was greatly afflicted by it, was brought to him from the
territory of Amaia, 64 and restored to her lost health by a prayer of the
holy man.

X. A lame woman walks

17. Another woman from the same place was brought borne on a cart,
since she was long since lame having lost the use of her feet and,
although it was Lent, asked to be cured by him. 65 He did not wish to see
her out of his reverence for the season (for it was his custom during
these days to be content to be alone in his cell and see no-one except
for a single individual out of his attendants 66 who brought him a
minuscule quantity of cheap food that he might continue to live). Since,
as I said, he refused to see her, she fervently pressed him that he grant
her merely to kiss his staff. When the man of God heard her in his
kindness, he immediately saw to it. When she saw this had been done,

62 The disease appears to be dropsy.

63 Armentarie appears as a graffito on the rock-cut church, la Iglesia superior de Nuestra
Sefiora de la Pefla. Azkarate Gara-Olaun [1988] 489-490 tentatively suggests that this
could have been Aemilian’s centre of operations.

64 A village near Villadiego some 40 miles North West of Burgos and the main centre
of Cantabria in this period.

65 cf Luke 5.18ff.

66 It appears therefore that Aemilian did not live entirely alone as a hermit. The same is
true of St Fructuosus who while living as an anchorite had a servant called Baldarius.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

she kissed the staff and stood up safely with firm and solid feet and,
having given thanks for the divine gift, departed at once rejoicing. 67

XI. He gives sight to a Senator’s maid

18. The maid of the Senator Sicorius, 68 long deprived of the light of
day, asked that he restore to her the use of her eyes. Then the man of
God by word and touch, and with Christ as his guide, asked for her
health and straightaway his request came to pass: her sight returned and
she saw the shapes of things in a very clear light. 69

XII. He cures a possessed deacon

19. A certain man ejected from the office of deacon was violently
possessed by a most shameless demon. 70 Bound by his friends he was
placed before Aemilian’s face to be cleansed. While he was convulsed
by his madness as if he was rabid, raving and lashing out, the unclean
spirit was ordered by the most blessed man to leave him. There was no
delay: the disobedient learnt to obey, the demon was stricken with
invisible punishments and made a stranger to the dwelling it had seized.
It abandoned the man, who spoke and shouted out his praises to God.

XIII. He heals another slave

20. The slave of a certain Tuentius, Sibila by name, had been seized by
impure spirits. 71 He was dragged to the blessed man by his family, who,
when he saw him, asked by how many demons he was possessed. They

67 cf Matthew 9.20ff., 14.36.

68 A member of the mysterious senate of Cantabria found in chapter 33?

69 cf Mark 8.23-25.

70 It is unclear whether the man was expelled from his office because he was possessed
or that the demon found such a sinner a particularly easy target.

71 These two names may cast some light on the status of languages in this period.
‘Tuentius’ is a semi-Romanised Gothic name, suggesting that this noble thought it
worthwhile to present a veneer of Roman culture to the outside world. His slave’s name
however is firmly Gothic and hence it appears that the veneer was strictly for external
purposes only. For nomenclature in Visigothic Spain see Claude [1972].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

told him that they were five and each one gave its name. 72 He
commanded them through the power of Jesus Christ and straightaway
they all departed, screaming in great terror. The slave, cured, returned
happily to his own.

XIV. He heals another: the slave of a Count

21. And he restored to health and safety through the incomparable
power of divine omnipotence, a slave of the Count Eugene who was
possessed and afflicted by a demon which had long held him in slavery
by a lengthy occupation of his body.

XV. Likewise he heals a married couple

22. Now what am I to say about the senator Nepotian and his wife
Proseria? Save that as they had been joined in marriage, so they were
jointly possessed by a demon, with the result that the flesh which had
become one with his wife was believed to be dwelt in by one spirit
which in its twofold possession seemed to have perverted the law of
marriage for its own use. 73 How obvious their condition was can be
learnt from the fact that news of it spread everywhere so that it did not
slip from peoples’ minds for generations. 74 Hence it may seem that I
have added this account superfluously because there is no Cantabrian
who can have failed to have seen or heard of this incident. 75 When news
of this occurrence came to our Aemilian he ordered his unclean foe to
leave the bodies of the couple. It was in no way able to resist his
command and freed them as it had been ordered. They on their
liberation sounded forth their praise to the King of heaven.

72 cf the Legion of demons in Mark 5.9 and Luke 8.30.

73 i.e. Christ’s law of marriage, Matthew 19.5-6.

74 A somewhat unfortunate statement given Braulio’s opening comment that Aemilian’s
miracles were almost contemporary with his own day.

75 An important notice as it implies that Aemilian’s acts were widely known in Cantabria.
As the saint’s centre of operations is to be found in the modern province of La Rioja, not
Cantabria, this perhaps implies that sixth century Cantabria covered a much larger area
than the area later denoted by this term. It is of interest that Berceo omits this detail in
his poem and the fifteenth century Spanish translation of Braulio RAH Ms Emil 59 refers
to the Navarrese at this point not the Cantabrians.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

XVI. Likewise he cures another woman

23. In the same way a demon had possessed in a horrific fashion the
daughter of the curial Maximus called Columba, producing an
unforeseen weakness in her limbs. She was placed in great expectation
before the servant of God to be cured. When he made the sign of the
cross on the threshold of her brow, the demon was soon driven out and
ejected and she obtained a remedy for her ill health.

XVII. He casts out a demon from a senator’s house

24. The house of the senator Honorius gave shelter to a most wicked
and rebellious demon who most monstrously attached itself to his house
and everyday perpetrated some disgusting and vile deed so that no one
could endure this servant of the devil. Worst of all, often when the
master of the house had sat down to feast, the impure spirit would put
the bones of dead animals and frequently manure in his dishes. Often
too at night when the inhabitants were asleep, it stole the clothes of men
and women and hung them from the roofs as if they were veils of some
foul deed. Not a little anxious and not knowing what to do, Honorius
kept calm amid his anguish, having a sure faith in the virtues of
Aemilian and heartened by this hope, he sent for him to be brought to
him, despatching carriages to aid him on his way. The messengers
arrived and implored him to come and drive out the demon with
whatever power was at his disposal. At last worn down by their
entreaties he set out to show the power of our God, but did so on foot
not in a carriage. 76 When he came to Parpalines (where these things took
place), 77 he found everything had happened as he had been told, and he

76 cf VSF 12.

77 An alternative ms reading is Pamplona, this is the version followed by the fifteenth-
century Spanish translation of Braulio, RAH Ms Emil.59 fol.l32r. The location of
Parpalines is unknown. A note by Toribio Minguella on the Memorias of P.Romero (ms
de San Mill&n) places Parpalines in the Oc6n Valley near Ausejo, a view followed by
Orlandis [1992] ch.10. This identification coincides with that found on a document on
folio 50v of one version (the Becerro Galicano) of the Cartulario of the monastery of San
Mill&n de la Cogolla, dated to era 958, i.e. AD 920 (Ubieto [1976] 68, Serrano [1930]
16) in which King Garda S&nchez I of Navarra grants to the monastery of San Milldn de
La Cogolla the village which Sicorius gave to the saint to thank him for curing him and

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

himself endured some lawless acts. He ordered a fast and gathered to
him the congregation 78 of priests who lived there. On the third day,
having fulfilled the vow of the fast he had ordered, he exorcised some
salt and mixed it with water according to the teachings of the Church
and began to perform an aspersion of the house. 79 Then the hateful
being burst forth from the bowels of the house. Seeing itself ejected and
cast out of its dwelling place, it threw stones at Aemilian but he,
fortified by his unconquerable shield, remained safe. 80 Finally put to
flight, the demon spewing out flames with a most nauseating odour
sought the wilderness. 81 And so the inhabitants of the house rejoiced that
they had been saved by Aemilian’s prayer.

XVIII. Divine Protection Guards Him

25. What more is there to say? There was so great an abundance of
sanctity in that man, so great a store of divine power, so much
puissance of divine authority that when a multitude of madmen ran to
him, not only did he not show the slightest trace of fear, but even
locked himself in alone with all of them in the place where he was to
cure them through divine grace. 82 Often when he lay down on his bed,
they tried to bum him and brought burning straw up to his bed. But
when they tried to set the bed alight with it, it lost its heat. They
persisted in this all through the night, labouring in vain. Therefore when
Aemilian realised this, at his command the madmen bound one another

giving sight to his servant girl. This is described as ‘The village of Parperinense called
Buengua...’. The notice, however, is of awkward phraseology, not found on the other
version of the Cartulario (the Becerro Gotico), and the name of the senator concerned
should be Honorius not Sicorius. It appears therefore that we are dealing with a pious post
eventum forgery where chapters 18 and 24 of the life have been confused. Serrano [1930]
xxiii n.12 notes another document of AD 1074 found on the vellum manuscript of
Valvanera n°10 which mentions a village of Parpalines near Ocon. It is however a later
addition to the manuscript.

78 Lat. ‘ordo’.

79 For these rituals see Liber Sacramentorum ed. Ferotin [1912] 11-22.

8(1 cf Ephesians 6.16.

81 cf Luke 11.24.

82 cf Sulpicius Severus, Dial. 3.6.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

with chains, their hands providing a means of safety, since their hearts
were full of madness. 83

XIX. A beam lengthens at his prayer

26. I ought not to be silent about this matter which I see is already
known throughout the world. I am talking about the beam which shaped
by the hand of some carpenters was taken to build a granary, 84 but was
found to be too short to fit with the other beams being used for the
work. When he saw this, he ordered the carpenters to eat with easy
minds, while he himself withdrew to plead before the eyes of the
creator. When he had finished the synaxis 85 at the sixth hour in his own
special customary style, 86 it was revealed to him that what he had asked
for had been granted and he returned to these hired workers. ‘Do not
think that you will lose the money for your work.’ he said, ‘Set the
beam in its place.’ They lifted it and set it up as he instructed, and
found that it was longer than the rest, having grown by more than a
palm’s breadth. 87 In that place he made a mark which can be clearly
seen to this day. So through his prayer, the workmen did not waste their

83 Oddly this, rather than the division of his tunic, is the commonest depiction from the
life of the saint. The saint does not seem to have been able to cure the madmen and the
miracle must lie in the fact that the lunatics willing bound themselves rather than having
to be constrained by others. Their binding was to prevent them harming themselves or
others; see Bernardo de Gordonio’s early fourteenth century work, Lilio de la Medicina ,
cap. 19 De Mania & Melancolia which prescribes this treatment if all cures have failed.

84 Traditional horreos are still a common sight in North West of Spain. Berceo, stanza
225, and the fifteenth-century Spanish translation of the Life , RAH, Ms Emil.59 fo!.133r,
state that Aemilian commissioned the granary himself to store food for the pilgrims who
flocked to visit him. This is an unwarranted internal inference from chapters 28 and 29.

85 Synaxis originally meant ‘congregation’; it came however to take on the meaning of
‘divine service’ including both ones containing the eucharist and, especially in the West,
a non-eucharistic service composed of psalms, prayers, and lessons from Scripture.

86 This is an example of the things which Braulio warns his flock not to imitate in chapter
6 of the Life.

87 This miracle is very different from the normal ones of healing and exorcism. An
eleventh-century catalogue of relics from Oviedo also lists a piece of wood which
miraculously grew to the right size in the building of a church, see De Bruyne [1927].
This may represent an embroidered version of our story or suggest that such miracle
accounts were common in Northern Spain. There is a possibility that the account attempts
to supersede or Christianise the pagan cult of trees found in this area.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

labour nor were they cheated of the wages for their task. The very wood
even now cures the devout who are ill, and is said to have so much
power that almost daily it gives health to the sick. 88 For this reason my
account would drag out to an enormous length, if I wanted to repeat all
the acts of healing which have been recorded there and lie open to
inspection. But now I think it worth saying a little of his liberality and
chastity.

XX. He gives the sleeves of his tunic to the poor

27. Once a crowd of the poor came to him 89 asking for their normal
subvention and though he was lacking in goods or could not find
anything which he could give them, he was not found lacking in his
innate piety. For he cut the sleeves from his tunic and generously
handed them over along with the cloak he was wearing. Then one of
them who was more importunate than the rest, as is the way with
beggars, went in front of all the rest, took these and put them on. O
here was another Martin who in clothing the poor man clothed Christ! 90
Not undeservedly have they obtained the same reward, for they had the
same spirit of liberality. However lest this striking importunity in front
of so great a man should go unavenged, the rest of the beggar’s
colleagues on seeing his act became envious and indignant at the
presumption of one man. Armed with their sticks, they rose up and fell
upon him in a horde and drove him all over to wherever anger
prompted them individually. And clearly he deserved this trouble which
was brought on by his own lack of foresight. 91

88 It was placed in a reliquary in one of the columns of San Mil Ian de Suso. The
fifteenth-century Spanish translation states it was working miracles To this day’ as does
a note to manuscript S of Berceo. There is no indication of when the beam was moved
from the granary. Manuscript RAH XXIV f 155v, dating from the thirteenth century, lists
a ‘pitatium’ of the wood amongst the monastery’s treasures.

89 Berceo, op.cit., stanza 239, again presents this crowd as one of pilgrims coming to visit
the hermit.

9(1 cf Sulpicius Severus, VSM 3. The division of his cloak was St Martin’s most famous
act of charity. Here Braulio makes Aemilian trump Martin as he gives away all his cloak
and the sleeves of his tunic.

91 Aemilian’s act is tempered by Braulio’s sense of social propriety.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

28. I shall tell of another incident which I would like the grasping to
hear in order that they should not think on the morrow. It happened that
a crowd came to the blessed man when he did not have enough wine for
them. 92 But because those who ask of the Lord shall not be lacking in
any good thing, 93 a huge multitude drank to its fill from scarcely, as it
is reported, a sextarius of wine. 94 However they say a greater miracle
occurred on another occasion.

XXII. He is aided when food comes to him

29. As fame of his sanctity spread, crowds of visitors came to see him
daily and he, of his own free will, urged them with all his heart to stay
as his guests and refresh themselves from his charity. When his servant
learnt this clearly, he told the holy man that there was nothing left for
them to eat. Aemilian reproached his servant with a gentle rebuke,
criticising his lukewarm faith 95 and prayed to Christ to provide the
necessary food. He had not finished his prayer when, lo, suddenly carts
generously loaded down with food sent from the senator Honorius came
through the gate. 96 The man beloved of God took the gift and gave
thanks to the Creator of the World for having heard his prayer. He set
a sufficient amount of food before his invited guests and saw that the
rest be saved for those who might come later. Thus he trod a middle
path between performing the duties of common hospitality and his own
practice of abstinence, so that his table would be found set for a feast
for guests no matter the time of day, while he, on the other hand, was
so sparing with food that he was never seen save sober in mind and
mortified in the flesh. He replenished the bodies of his guests with food
and their souls with his words. He was so eloquent in his analogies and

92 Berceo, op.cit ., stanza 247, casts this incident in a monastery of the kind of his own
day.

93 cf Matthew 7.7.

94 approximately one pint. The incident carries strong overtones of the feeding of the five
thousand, Matthew 14.13-21, Luke 9.10-17, John 6.1-13 and the wedding at Cana, John
2.1-9.

95 cf Matthew 8.26, 14.31, 16.8; Luke 12.28.

96 This in fact seems a lesser miracle than the one Braulio described in the preceding
chapter. Christ’s feeding of the masses is parallelled, but the element of the miraculous
is at a much lower level.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

so subtle in his advocacy of the spiritual life that whoever came to him
for whatever reason left him a better and contented man for he never
departed from his precepts in either his life or his words. Lest I drag out
my account into a long tale, he gained the palm of victory over his
vanquished flesh in such a way that his North was never conquered and
used to warm a cauldron, 97 nor to provide kindling for the fires of
Nebuchadnezzar. 98

XXIII. He is slandered by a demon because he lives with women.

30. Now those apostate spirits, when they wished in the cunning of their
evil to harm him through the slander of madmen, because they could
find nothing of which to accuse the servant of Christ, they merely
attempted to reproach him by asking why he cohabited with maidens of
Christ. 99 So the Enemy plays with his ancient art: a man he is not able
to cast down in deed, he presses on to besmirch through rumour; a man
whose conscience he cannot overcome, he defames. It is as if he can
offer through his beguiling temptations examples of consolation, while
men think that there is no good man to be found and despair of finding
a man whose good deeds they should imitate. When this is the case,
they almost think it a remedy for themselves if no innocent man can be
found and are consoled to their own damnation by the thought that the
multitude too shall perish. What use, Devisor of Evil, can the ill repute
of the servants of Christ be to you, since our Lord and Redeemer has
promised his own the heavenly kingdom by honour and dishonour, by
evil report and good report , 100 But this holy man even in his old age
was devoted to abstinence and common decency. He lived with holy
maidens from his eightieth year onwards: bound down by his holy work

97 Jeremiah 1.13: a prediction of disaster coming to the kingdom of Judah from the north.

98 cf Jeremiah 21.7, 21.14.

99 The celibacy of the clergy made such accusations both frequent and plausible. The
Cantiga de los Clerigos de Talavera in Juan Ruiz’ Libro de Buen Amor and the preface
to the Friar’s Tale in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales capture the thoughts behind them. St
Cyprian, Hab. Virg. 19, remarks on the trouble that virgins cause to the church. Gregory
of Tours (HF 6.36) records similar accusations made against Aetherius, the bishop of
Lisieux, adding that since the bishop was nearly 70 at the time he was astounded that such
allegations were made. See also VSD ch.4.

100 2 Corinthians 6.8.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

and pain, he happily accepted from the maidens of God all the
ministrations that a father may accept. But, as I have already said, he
was so far from sinful temptations that he never experienced a trace of
a disgraceful urge in that part of his life. Now because he had reached
so advanced an age, his needs increased proportionately so that when he
suffered from the sickness of dropsy, he allowed his body to be washed
by these same holy women, but he himself was a stranger to all illicit
passions. This truly was a special gift which we find granted to few, and
which ought to be tried by no one lest they come into danger of
temptation. For every individual is called to his own vocation, let him
remain in that vocation before God. 101 For David said, ‘ neither do I
exercise myself in great matters or in things too high for mef 02 He
indeed walks in things too high for him who tries to do things which
the Godhead has not granted to him.

XXIV. A horse stolen by robbers is restored to him

31. But I shall relate how even brigands feared him and how he made
thieves wary. A certain Sempronius and Thuribius, driven on and
tempted by the devil came to the dwelling of the man of God to rob it.
And although it is written concerning the Just Man ‘ There shall no evil
befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling' , 103 these
two either for their own chastisement or to provide an example were
allowed to draw near to Aemilian but forbidden to chastise him, indeed
they were caught and themselves felt the chastisement of God. The
thieves when they reached dwelling of the holy man, came across
outside it the beast upon which he was accustomed to ride to church and
stole away with it. 104 They did not enjoy their ill-gotten gain for long.
For after a little while, they came, each having lost the use of an eye,
begging for pardon and bringing back the animal. The holy man of God
took back the horse, rebuked himself for having ever owned it, sold it

101 cf / Corinthians 7.20. Braulio is eager here to discourage any thought among his
readers that they should become solitary hermits.

102 Psalm 131.1.

103 Psalm 91.10.

104 Berceo, op.cit., stanza 271, refers to the incident taking place in the ‘pasto de la
Varga’, unfortunately this has not been identified.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

straight away, and gave its price to the poor. However he did not restore
the thieves’ sight, prompted, I believe, by his spirit of discretion
reasoning that unless they were deprived of their eyes they would not
cease from deeds such as that they had perpetrated on him, and that if
they wished to do something similar again, they would swiftly be
betrayed from their lairs by the marks on their bodies and their ill-
repute. For who would think that a man who both alive and dead often
restored sight to the blind could not have obtained this boon from the
Lord? But it was better for them to pay the price of their deed in this
life rather than after it, as it is said, "it is better for thee to enter into
life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell
fire’.' 05

XXV. He learns of the day of his death

32. When in the hundredth year of his life, about a year before he was
to pass on from the body, it was revealed to him that his human labours
would be brought to an end and that he would receive the most holy
promises of the Almighty, he turned to a stricter way of life. A man
who had dried up his limbs through vigils and fasting, now entered this
new campaign like a veteran soldier, so that his end might be the more
outstanding and of a kind that is always held better and more
praiseworthy by Christ, Who says "he that shall endure unto the end,
the same shall be saved ' 106

XXVI. He predicts the Doom of Cantabria

33. During Lent in the same year the doom of Cantabria was revealed
to him. Therefore he sent a messenger and instructed the senate to meet

105 Matthew 18.9, Mark 9.46. Aemilian’s harsh approach runs contrary to normal
hagiographic accounts which tend to emphasise the forgiveness of the saint. This may well
be a reflection on Braulio’s unease at the notion of forgiving bandits who were rife in his
area, see Ep. 3. Forgiveness is a virtue attributed to St Martin, said never to have judged
any one by Sulpicius Severus (VSM 26), and to St Augustine whom we are told turned
a blind eye to his monks’ lapses (Possidius, V.Aug 18.8).

106 Matthew 24.13.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

him on Easter Day. 107 When they gathered at the appointed time, he told
them what he had seen, and reproved them for their crimes: murder,
theft, incest, violence and other sins, and told them to make penance for
all of these. Although they all listened to him reverently (for they all
regarded him as a venerable man and almost as if he was one of the
disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ), a certain Abundantius said that he
had gone senile in his old age. 108 But Aemilian told him what he in

107 There has been great debate as to whether ‘Cantabria’ here refers to a city or a district.
RAH Ms Emil.39 fol.245r, dating to the eleventh century, contains the following gloss
referring to these events: ‘Of Cantabria. In the Life of Saint Aemilian it speaks of The
doom of Cantabria which was foretold by him. King Leovigild invaded and slew the
raiders of the province. He occupied Amaya, took their wealth and brought the province
back under his sway... Cantabria is sited on Mount Iggeto next to the source of the Ebro.
Leovigild, the heretic king, destroyed it’. Berceo, op.cit., stanza 292, also assumes that a
town is intended and notes that the city was never rebuilt, but that three towers could still
be seen on its site. Berceo is probably referring to a hill which is still known as Cantabria
which lies to the North of the Ebro near Logroflo between Rioja Alavesa and Navarre.
John of Biclarum on the other hand, while recording Leovigild’s campaign ( Chron. 32
(AD 574)), makes no mention of a town called Cantabria. Isidore while saying that the
Cantabrians are named from a town and the river Ebro, Etymologiae 9.4.113, a statement
which might seem to support the notion of a town Cantabria, also states that Cantabria is
a region, ‘such as is commonly called a conventus' of Galicia. The seventeenth century
authors Moret [1655] and Oihenart [1638] denied the existence of the town, and apart
from the references listed above there are no sources attesting its existence. Madoz [1846]
10.35, however was inclined to believe in the town, as was Dutton [1967] & [1992] who
cites Madoz’s description of the site with approval. The evidence of Isidore and John,
however, appears to be decisive in ruling out this interpretation.

The issue is not without importance as if a district rather than a town is meant
‘Cantabria’ in this period appears to have been a term with a far wider geographical scope
than the Cantabria of the Roman period. This is the conclusion drawn by Barbero and
Vigil [1965] & [1974] and P6rez Bustamante [1974] who envisage Visigothic Cantabria
embracing the area of Burgos and La Rioja. This view has been challenged by Gonz&lez
Echegaray [1976-7], [1986] ch.3, and Besga Marroquin [1983] ch.4. who believe that the
change in the meaning of ‘Cantabria’ did not come about until the 10th century. As
Braulio does not make it clear whether the council travelled to Aemilian or Aemilian to
the council, it could be argued that a Cantabrian regional council might still have travelled
outside its own bounds to the audience with the Holy Man.

Leovigild did not capture all of Cantabria as a small area which gave its allegiance to
the Franks was finally conquered by Sisebut in AD 607, see Pseudo-Fredegar, Chron.
4.33, Azkarate Garai-Olaun [1993], and Larrafiaga Elorza [1993].

108 The description of the sins of Cantabria and the ridicule poured on Aemilian has
echoes of Job and the destruction of Sodom in Genesis 19.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

person was going to suffer. And events bore him out, for he was cut
down by the avenging sword of Leovigild. 109 He attacked the rest too in
equal measure for their perjury and treachery, predicting the coming
wrath of God since they did not repent of their former works, and was
anointed with their blood.

XXVIII. His death and burial

34. Now when the time of his death was approaching, he summoned the
most holy priest Asellus who had been his colleague and in whose
presence his most fortunate soul was freed from the body and returned
to heaven. 110 Then, through the care of that most blessed man, his body
was carried with great devotion being paid it by the devout and laid
where it remains to this day in his oratory. 111 Farewell, Farewell,
Blessed Aemilian, freed from mortal cares, take hold of your good
fortune among the company of saints, and mindful of the teller of your
life, the worthless Braulio, come forward as his intercessor, so that
through you I, who am unable to flee my evil deeds, might find pardon
and earn this vicarious reward: that my prayers for indulgence for my
sins be heard through the favour of him whose virtues I set down with

109 Leovigild’s expedition against Cantabria took place in AD 574, John of Biclarum,
Chronicle 73. For the ‘avenging sword’, cf the avenging wrath of God at Romans 13.4.
If the account is taken literally, Abundantius may have been the leader of the Cantabrians.
Berceo, op.cit., stanza 291, makes him the first to die in the battle, though this could
easily be a post eventum deduction from Braulio’s account. The religious affiliation of
Cantabria is unclear, but if it was Orthodox Braulio is placed in the awkward position of
having to endorse an Arian conquest of an Orthodox area. He sidesteps this problem
magnificently by making Leovigild an instrument of God’s wrath.

110 Breviaries place Aemilian’s death day on 12 November, AD 574, cf Berceo, op.cit .,
stanza 363.

111 Berceo, op.cit ., stanza 313, adds that the tomb was carved out by Aemilian himself
during his lifetime. The relics of the saint were transferred in AD 1030 to the church of
San Mill&n de Suso built by the saint’s oratory. In AD 1053 they were said to have
miraculously resisted the attempts of Garda III of Najera to take them to the Collegiate
church of Sta Maria la Real in Ndjera. The king consequently built the Church of San
Mill&n de Yuso, which is identical to his foundation in N&jera, in the valley below San
Mill4n de Suso and the saint’s relics were laid to rest there in AD 1067. This church was
entirely rebuilt in the sixteenth century. Apart from relics of Aemilian and Felix, others
belonging to Adelphius, Braulio, Conantius, Eugene II, Eulalia, Fructuosus, Ildefonsus,
Isidore, Leander, and Montanus were also to be found here.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

my pen, and that along with these men over whom I unworthily exercise
pastoral care, I might be found justified at the last judgement. I feel that
this small work is coming to its close, but after speaking of the miracles
he performed while alive, should we be silent about the acts of grace
performed by him when dead? I shall bring forward two or three
miracles, so that those told to us by the testimony of others and attested
to in writing might be made all the more credible.

XXVIII. The blind receive sight at his tomb

35. An account of how many blind men have had their sight restored at
his tomb, how many of the possessed have been purged of their
troubles, or how many men suffering from all kinds of disease have
been cured there which began from the time of this saint’s death and ran
down to our times would be too long to add this to this little book. But
I think that this one example is worthy to be written down: that
immediately after his passage to heaven two men deprived of sight were
restored to the light.

XXIX. A lamp-wick of God was lit

36. Indeed this last year, close to the feast of St Julian the Martyr, there
was no oil for the light f 2 and its wick remained unlit. However when
they rose for their vigil they found the lamp full of oil and burning. It
not only provided light until the morning, but from the great amount
that remained this wonder produced further wonders. 113

XXX. A blind and lame woman is healed

37. A woman, Eufrasia by name, was brought there from Banonicum. 114
She was blind and lame, but upright and clear-sighted in faith as can be
deduced from this tale. When she had been anointed on her eyes and
feet, 115 straight away the propitious Godhead gave her the ability to see

112 Exodus 25.6.

113 cf VSD 14.

114 Location unknown, the fifteenth century translation reads k Bannos.’

115 Presumably with the oil mentioned in the preceding chapter.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

and walk. Let men believe these things told through the testimony of
witnesses who have seen the deeds done in our times. Indeed the place
where she lives, and the woman, once an invalid, but now cured, are
known.

XXXI. A girl is raised from the dead

38. Again another girl, about four years old, from Pratum which is not
far from his oratory, 1,6 was taken by sickness and brought by it almost
to the end of her life. Her parents moved by piety and fearing that they
would be bereaved, decided that she should be taken to the tomb of the
blessed man of God. As they carried her she seemed to die on the
journey. Nevertheless as they did not lack in faith, they brought the
dead girl to the place and placed her by the altar. Then, as the day was
drawing to a close, they withdrew thence, leaving no-one there. When
three hours had passed, they returned partly from curiosity and partly
overcome by grief to see what it had pleased the Creator to do with her.
They found alive she whom they had left dead and not only living but
playing with the altar cloth. They glorified Christ who establishes all
things and who had looked with favour on their devout grief. Behold,
here at the present and in our times is another Elisha, whose dead bones
bring lifeless limbs to life! 117 But while the men of old fled in fear,
these folk bore the girl and placed her at the altar full of faith. From
this we can see that there is one and the same God in the Old and New
Testaments, our Lord Jesus Christ, who only doeth wondrous things. ll%
He hid the hope of happiness from those fearing him, 119 men panic-
stricken under the law of fear, and not yet strengthened by charity
which casteth out fear: because fear hath torment , 120 but now that
Power Which alone gives life to the dead has made those who believe
in Him and live trusting in Him whole through the Grace of Faith. The
Power that raises the dead is one and the same, but manifests Itself
differently at different times, just as the motives of those bringing the

116 Possibly Pradilla located near San Mill&n de Suso.

117 cf 2 Kings 13.21.
m Psalm 72.18.

1,9 cf Psalm 31.20.

120 / John 4.18.

THE LIFE OF ST AEMILIAN THE CONFESSOR

dead were different. For one group brought the corpse that they might
bury it, the other to receive it back again living. Hence we are given to
understand how great is the rest of blessedness possessed by Holy men
at whose tombs the Almighty Lord performs such wondrous deeds.

We have honoured our promise, it remains to bring the course of our
tale to an end and give thanks to Christ, the King of heaven, by Whose
aid and inspiration we have seen this work begun and ended. Who has
granted us, for the consolation of our present sufferings the
contemplation of the life 121 of holy men, Who lives with God the Father
and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen

121 Braulio’s use of the singular here is deliberate as all holy men were regarded as living
the divine life which was a unity; see Gregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers , Preface
where Gregory defends his use of the singular and an anonymous monk of Whitby’s The
Life of Gregory the Great 30 (edition by Colgrave [1968]).

[Paul the Deacon|

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

In the Name of the Lord here begins the book of the lives of the Holy
Fathers of Merida

PREFACE to this book

1 No Orthodox believer and above all no Catholic ought to disbelieve
in the miracles which that most holy and famed bishop, Gregory, Bishop
of the city of Rome, fired by the grace of the Comforting Spirit, set
down in his books of Dialogues, writing them with a pen which told the
truth: 1 miracles which in olden times Almighty God thought it fit to
work for the glory of His name through humble servants who were
indeed pleasing to Him. 2 Let no one’s mind be troubled by this doubt:
that these things appear to have happened in ancient times, and so
perhaps not believe in them completely, thinking that this holy man of
divine election, a tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, has obfuscated some
points with empty and nebulous language. For through the authoritative
words of the evangelists it is made clearer than the light of day to
everyone that the Lord had always worked miracles and works them to
this day. 2 3 Wherefore in order that the faith of all those reading or
listening may be strengthened with greater and stouter belief, I shall tell
of the things that have happened in the city of Merida in our present
times: which are not events we have learned about from the tales of
strangers or from contrived fables, but which we ourselves have heard
with our own ears from those who have left the body in wondrous
fashion and who we have no doubt have reached the heavenly realms.

1 Gregory I ‘the Great’, Pope AD 590 to 604. Gregory’s four books of Dialogues which
deal with miracles performed by mainly Italian saints were written between AD 593 and
594; for a detailed discussion see Petersen [1984].

2 See especially Mark 16.17-18, the words spoken by Christ just prior to His ascension:
‘And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.’

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

1. Here begins the account of the death of the young boy Agustus

1 There was a young boy, not yet of advanced years, in fact still but a
youth, called Agustus. 3 Innocent, artless, unlearned in letters, while he
was faithfully performing with his fellow youths the tasks laid upon him
by the venerable man in charge of the convent in the House of the
glorious virgin Eulalia, he suddenly happened to fall ill. 4 2 When many
came to visit him, as is the custom - I myself often went there - , it
happened that one night, when the solemn vigil had been completed,
(for in winter it is the practice in this holy church to celebrate, with the
Lord’s help, the offices of Matins and Lauds separately with a short
interval between them 5 ), 3 I rose to see him and, entering the cell where
he lay on his bed, found all who were there so deep in slumber that
none of them were wakened by my entry. Indeed, I found the light
which had been lit there had gone out. 4 Straightaway I told all those
lying before him to get up and commanded that the light which had
gone out be relit. When we had light, I asked this boy Agustus how he
was. 5 He replied, ‘As regards hope for this present life, I confess that
all the limbs of my body are undone and no strength remains to me.
However, as regards hope for the life eternal, I rejoice that 1 have not
only hope, but say that I have seen that very author of life eternal, the

3 The dropping of the classical ‘u’ is common in the Visigothic period.

4 For the training of young boys destined for the priesthood in an ecclesiastical house see
II Toledo 1 (AD 527) and IV Toledo 24 (AD 633) where the institution is called a ‘domus
ecclesiae’.

Boys placed in such an institution by their parents would remain there until the age of
eighteen when they had the choice to leave or continuing their religious career. A prayer
and benediction for new entrants have survived in the Mozarabic Liber Ordinum, see
F6rotin [1904] 38, 39. For a general discussion of education in this period see Rich6
[1962].

It is unlikely that the inscription cited by Garvin [1946] 275 = ICERV 348 (Kindly
Martyr Eulalia hold this house under your rule so that the Enemy knowing this might flee
in confusion and this house and its inhabitants flourish with your aid. Amen) refers to a
specific house of Eulalia. It appears rather to be an apotropaic inscription for an ordinary
dwelling place (cf the Mozarabic prayer for entering a house, F^rotin [1904] 176). The
strength of this belief in Eulalia’s powers can be seen throughout VPE.

5 cf Rule of St Benedict 8. For a detailed discussion of ecclesiastical offices in the
Visigothic Church see Fdrotin [1912] col.54-71. These are the two offices combined by
Cranmer in the Book of Common Prayer to produce Morning Prayer.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

Lord Jesus Christ, with the hosts of angels and innumerable throngs of
all the saints.’ 6 6 When I heard this, I was astounded, trembled greatly,
and begged him to tell me all that he had seen as it had happened. To
this he replied, ‘I call the Lord of Heaven and Earth as my witness that
I will not tell you of some fantastical vision, but that you might believe
more fully, I tell you that I have not slept this night.’ 7 When he had
said this, he began his tale as follows, T was in a beautiful place where
there were many fragrant flowers, the greenest grass, roses, lilies, many
crowns of gems and gold, countless silken trappings, and a gentle breeze
which cooled everything with its refreshing, airy breath. 7 There I saw
innumerable seats to the right and to the left and in the middle a seat set
forth much higher than the rest. There were countless serving-boys, all
well-dressed and handsome, preparing the tables and a glorious feast.
The rich dishes were not of meat, but all of fowl and everything which
was being prepared was white like snow 8 and they were awaiting the
coming of the Lord, their King.’ 9 Then I, though unworthy, thinking
that it would be worthwhile for me to hear him speak more fully of this
great wonder, said to him, ‘Tell me, I beg of you, while this of which
you speak was being prepared, what were you doing?’ 10 He replied,
‘I kissed all their feet, and they said to me, ‘Blessed is God Who has
done well bringing you here.’ 11 While they were saying this and
finishing all their tasks, suddenly there arrived a great multitude of men
dressed in white, all adorned with gold and precious stones, and wearing
gleaming crowns. 9 And one division of this multitude came on from the
right and another from the left and thus hastening from both sides they
offered their king ineffable homage. 12 In their midst came a most
splendid and incredibly beautiful man, well proportioned, glorious to

6 cf Daniel 10.8.

7 There are strong verbal echoes here of Prudentius, Apotheosis 841-2. For the locus
amoenus see Gregory the Great, Dial. 4.87 and the vision of Saturus in the Passio of St
Perpetua and Felicity 11. The entry of the dead into the garden of Eden was also a
common feature of Jewish funerary imagery in this period, see Roth [1948].

8 This insistence on the whiteness of everything Agustus sees may explain the absence
of red meat. However, it may also reflect the view that the monastic rule Agustus knew
was meant to mirror the heavenly life. We know that red meat ( quadripedum carnes) was
banned, save in exceptional circumstances, by the Rule of St Benedict , ch.39.

9 cf Revelation 4.4. The whiteness of the elect is a common topos in early Christian
thought.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

behold. He was taller than all the others, brighter than the sun and
whiter than snow. 10 13 When they came to the seats which had been
prepared for them, this more beautiful man sat in the higher place and
the rest fell down and adored him and then sat in their places.
Straightaway he blessed them all and they adored him once, twice, three
times over. Then the dishes which had been prepared were set before
them. 14 When they had begun to eat that distinguished personage who
sat in the high place said to those who stood by him, Ts there not some
sojourner here?’ and they replied, ‘There is, my Lord.’ Then he said,
‘Let him be brought into my sight.’ I, indeed, was standing far off and
watching. 15 When I was brought before his gaze, 1 began to tremble
violently. 11 He said to me ‘Do not be afraid, my son. Go behind me and
stand here.’ 12 and added, ‘Do not be afraid. Know that I will be your
protector. 13 You shall never lack for anything. I will always feed you, 14
I will always clothe you, I will protect you for all time, and never leave
you.’ 15 16 And straightaway he ordered that food and drink, the like of
which I had never seen, be given me from that self-same feast. Taking
it, I received it with all joy. And truly 1 tell you that I was so refreshed
by the grace of that food that thereafter I had no desire for any other
kind of food save it alone. 17 So when the feast had come to an end, he
said to me, ‘Let this multitude depart. You will come with me by
another route that I might show you the garden which I have in my
keeping. And again when the banquet had ended all fell down and
adored him, and the king blessing them gave them permission to leave.
18 As they were going, they dragged some men, I know not whom,
before his tribunal who were crying out and wailing. When he heard
their cries, he said, ‘Drag the wicked servants outside, they are not
worthy to see my face.’ When he had said this, they were taken away

10 Christ. Tallness is a common attribute of superiority in antiquity - see Passio of St
Perpetua and Felicity 4. It is also found in pagan contexts, e.g. the depiction of Trajan
on Trajan’s Column.

11 cf. Isaiah 6.5 and Hebrews 10.31: ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.’

12 To stand behind a noble was an act expressing both loyalty to and dependence on that
person, cf the behaviour of Witteric at 5.10.10.

15 cf Genesis 15.1.

14 cf Genesis 50.21.

15 cf Joshua 1.5.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

wondrous swiftly so that I could not see them clearly nor recognise
them.’ 16 19 Questioning him again, I said, ‘I beg you, my son, to tell
me if you recognised anyone among them of those who were known to
us in this world and who, summoned from the light of day, have passed
on. 17 To which he replied, ‘The men whom I saw there, were very
different from the men we see here, 18 for they were all of a different
form 19 and clothed in a different sort of dress.’ 20 Then he added,
‘After they dragged those men outside, the Lord who was more
handsome than the rest, rose up from his seat and, taking me by the
hand, led me to a most beautiful garden, 20 where there was a river with
water the colour of glass 21 and along its bank were many flowers and
woods scented with incense and smelling of various pleasing fragrances.
21 Thus going along the bank we came to the place which I now see as
I lie on my bed.’ 22 These are the things that the boy remembered and
told me in the presence of many people. Wherefore I, though unworthy
and to the fore in all manners of sinning, a Levite 22 of Christ, chose to
write it down as he told it, albeit in different words, but nevertheless
ones carrying the same meaning. 23 Then 1 took care to tell everything
that I had heard to that most holy man, my Lord the abbot. When he
heard these things, being, as ever, full of piety in his innermost soul, he
hurried as quickly as possible to that same Agustus and questioned him
eagerly about what he had seen, wishing to hear tale he had told from
his own lips. And Agustus repeated in the same fashion what he had
said, intimating it to his blessed ears. Then he repeated once more to a
kindly and most blessed Levite and all the brethren who were
questioning him what he had said a little while before. 25 Soon his soul
began to bum with a desire to receive penance. 23 As soon as he had

16 cf Matthew 25.30. The banquet scene and judgement carry slight overtones of Daniel
7.10.

17 For the notion of death as a summons see Matthew 24.26, 25.1, 25 13.

18 cf Gregory the Great, Dial. 1.10.

19 cf / Corinthians 15.40-55.

20 Perhaps a reference to the Garden of Eden.

21 cf the glassy sea in Revelation 4.6.

22 i.e. a deacon. This is the only autobiographical note we have for the hagiographer.

23 The sacrament of Penance, or the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism could
only be granted once (Hermas, Shepherd , MandAA.% and Tertullian, De Paenitentia
7.9.10) Any lapse thereafter would be mortal and therefore the rite which entailed absolute

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

received it, I went out and hurried to pray at the Basilica of Holy Mary
Ever-Virgin which the common people call to this day the church of
Her Who Brings Rest, and which lies five miles from the city of
Merida. 24 When, as dusk was drawing on, I returned thence I found him
dead. 26 Since it was already evening, he could not buried that day. 25
That night while his little body lay unburied in the cell where he had
died, in the stillness of the night that same Agustus standing outside
called out in a great voice to another youth of his own age, Quintilias.
27 After his voice had been heard and recognised, an artless and truthful
boy called Veranian at once got up, went outside, and was permitted to
see Agustus himself standing there clothed in white. 26 Petrified by fear,
he did not presume to draw closer to him whose face he testified on

and perpetual chastity and renunciation of the world (see Tertullian, De Paenitentia
passim, Councils of Elvira, c.AD 306, Saragossa, AD 380 and I Toledo c.AD 400) was
normally only performed close to death. Those who recovered from illness after penance
were excluded from further worldly activity as King Wamba found to his distress in AD
680 when he found himself debarred from being king (see 4 Toledo 17 and 12 Toledo 2).
The rite for penance can be found in the Liber Ordinum = Ferotin [1904] 87-93. See
1CERV 42 for a Satuminus who died at Merida after receiving the rite.

For a brief general discussion of penance in the early church see Di Berardino [1992]
vol.2 sv Penitence. For a more in-depth discussion centred on Visigothic Spain see
Gonz&lez [1950] Martinez Diez [1968], and Lozano Sebastian [1974], [1980].

24 Following the minority reading of manuscript O ‘quietissima’. Other manuscripts refer
to an otherwise unknown saint, Sta Quintisina. Given the context of the passage, it would
have made sense for the hagiographer to go to pray in a church associated with a cult of
the dead and one of the prime functions associated with the Marian cult is that of bringing
comfort to the dying; see, for example, the last line of the rosary. The location of the
church might also suggest that it was connected to an extra-mural cemetery which would
explain how the unofficial epithet ‘quietissima’ might have been attached to the Church.
The church itself is probably to be identified with La Ermita de Nuestra Sefiora de Urefta
situated in the Campos de Judlos.

25 Burial on the same day as death was the normal custom. VII Toledo 3 (AD 646) refers
to the requirement of Valencia (AD 546) that bishops should be buried within a day and
a night of their death. This may have been to cut down the opportunity for relic hunting,
see Prudentius, Peristephanon Martyrorum 6.130-141.

26 Sulpicius Severus (Ep 2.3) had a vision of St Martin who appeared before him dressed
in white and with a ‘fiery face.’ For the ‘whiteness’ of the elect see Gregory of Tours, VP
1 praef.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

oath was snowy white. 27 28 The following day his little body was
entrusted to the grave according to custom in the basilica of the most
blessed virgin my Lady Eulalia. 28

2. Here begins the account of the death of a Monk of Cauliana

1 Very many worthy men say that a good many years before our time,
a miracle of Our Saviour was graciously worked through His divine
clemency in the province of Lusitania. 2 It happened in the monastery
of Cauliana which does not lie far from the city of Merida, being some
eight miles distant, when that most reverend man of pious memory, the
abbot Renovatus, presided over it, having already shown himself a
wondrous bishop of the city of Merida. 29 While he, as befitted a far¬
sighted man of the sharpest intellect who was most zealous in every
discipline and in his fear of God, continually called all the monks
dwelling there to their heavenly home by his wise care, the goodness of
his life, and his example of performing good deeds, and all the flock
was following their shepherd, who went before them, along the narrow

27 cf accounts of the transfiguration, esp. Luke 9.29 and of Moses’ face glowing after he
had spoken with God, Exodus 34.29. A mysterious man who appeared to and cured a
female cripple in a dream at Brioude had a complexion ‘brighter than a lilly’ (Gregory of
Tours, Virt.Jul. 9.) Gregory of Tours describes Gregory of Langres’ body after his death
as having a rosy face and a body as white as a lily ‘so that one would have said that he
was already prepared for the glory of the future resurrection’ (VP 7.3).

28 This church, as we later learn, lay outside the walls of the town. Recent excavations
make it clear that it occupied the site of the present-day church of the same name, see
Cabellero Zoreda & Mateos Cruz [1992] and [1993]. Prudentius refers to a ‘tumulus’ of
Eulalia, Peristephanon Martyrorum 3.191-200, in terms which would apply to a richly
decorated church. However the poet must have been exaggerating as the remains from this
period are of a small apsed mausoleum surrounded by a necropolis. For a discussion of
Prudentius’ account of the site see Arce [1982] and [1992]. The mausoleum was replaced
by a larger basilica in the fifth century. The church remained in use through the Visigothic
period, but fell into disuse during the Arabic occupation of the town. The present church
dates from the thirteenth century.

29 The site of Cauliana is generally accepted as that of Santa Maria de Cubillana, see
Garvin [1946] 313, for a more sceptical attitude see Puertas Tricas [1975]. A local legend
records that Roderic, the last king of Visigothic Spain, fled here in the hope of rallying
his troops after his defeat by Arab general Tarik Ibn Ziyad at Guadalete, see Men^ndez
Pidal [1906].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

tracks and roads to heaven, 30 a ravenous wolf striving with all its might,
tried to rip away one little sheep with its snapping jaws. 4 For while the
whole throng of the congregation continued in their praise of God and
walked in the path of righteousness through fear of the Lord, a certain
monk found fault with their most holy life and gave himself up to
gluttony and drunkenness beyond measure, handing himself over to
perdition. Thenceforth he persisted ever more in his intent and began to
steal whatever he could find. 5 The man of God rebuked him in a
kindly fashion on very many occasions, but did not easily prevail upon
him. Again and again Renovatus earnestly rebuked him with his words,
but when he would not abstain from the seductive pleasure of gluttony 31
or his designs to steal and thieve, the abbot ordered him to be flogged,
put on iron rations, and thrust into a punishment cell. 32 6 But the monk
in no way returned to enduring his old devotions, and not only in no
way ceased from his sins, but, soiling himself every day, hastened to
entrust himself ever more quickly to the Tartarean caves of Hell. 33 7
When Renovatus saw that he was so determined to press on down this
route and that although he had been rebuked and flogged very many
times, he had no wish to mend his ways, touched by sorrow in the
depths of his heart, 34 he dismissed him to live according to the desires
of his heart. 35 8 He gave this instruction to those in charge of the
monastery’s stores: that whenever this monk wished to enter, no one
was to stop him eating or drinking, to the point of being sick, whatever
good and sweet food he found in the cellars. Even if he wanted to steal
and hide some of the provisions, as was his custom, he was to have the
liberty to do so, in order that they might see more clearly what he
would soon do after he had sated his throat and belly. 9 He, indeed, on
finding the doors unbolted in obedience to the abbot’s instructions,
stealthily and with great care entered the cellars of that most wealthy (as

30 cf Matthew 7.14.

31 cf Philippians 3.19.

32 cf Fructuosus’ Rule of Compludo chapters 15, 16 (English translation in Barlow
[1969])

33 The word for ‘hell’ used here is the classical ‘Avernus’. The passage may be meant
to echo the Sibyl’s famous address to Aeneas atAeneid 6.125#! which contains the phrase
it is easy to go down to Hell’ (facilis decensus Averno) and also makes use of‘Tartarus’.

34 cf Genesis 6.6.

35 cf Psalm 81.12 and the Fructuosian Common Rule ch.14.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

they say) 5 monastery. However, he was surrounded a little way off by
guards on all sides who, cunningly hidden, watched him, all unawares,
waiting to see what he would do. He devoured and gulped down
everything he found that was sweet or pleasant to eat or drink, until,
having lost his wits, he was scarcely able to walk. 10 Then furtively
carrying off some food and flasks of wine which are commonly called
gills or flagons, 37 he took them to the garden which adjoined the
monastery and hid them in a secret place among the thick bushes or
clumps of reeds. 11 Then sated from his surfeit of food and stricken
from the volume of wine he had drunk, he lay down to sleep setting by
himself the things he had stolen. For although it now gave him no
pleasure and his overloaded stomach was belching, he still lusted to eat
and drink. 12 But when the weight of his stomach made him too ill to
eat, straightaway he became drowsy and fell asleep. Dogs then came and
ate everything he had carried off, and the guards who had looked on
from a distance came and took the vessels he had stolen back to the
cellars while he slept. 13 When this had gone on for a long time and
everyone thought that he would never be reformed, the Shepherd and
Good Saviour delivered him out of the mouth of the lion. 38 14 For it
happened one day that when at first light he came out of the cellar the
worse for drink as was usual, some little boys who were studying letters
with their teachers in the schoolrooms 39 saw him drunk and at once
cried out, 15 ‘Mend your ways, hard-hearted one, mend your ways at
last. Think on the terrible judgement of God. Think on the fearful
sentence of His terrible scrutiny. Think on the frightening and horrible
severity of that judge’s vengeance. Think too on your years and at last
change your ways for the better and set your life to rights for at least
one day before you die. For if what you do is not permitted to us
children, it is all the more forbidden to you who are now full of

36 This qualification is curious. Perhaps the hagiographer means to imply that the true
wealth of Cauliana was to be found in the spirituality of its monks rather than its cellars.

37 Isidore, Etymologiae 20.6.2 says that ‘flask’ is a Greek word. The hagiographer is
drawing attention to the size not the name of the vessels.

38 cf 2 Timothy 4.17.

39 This is ecclesiastical schooling of the same form as that found in the House of Eulalia
in section 1.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

years. 40 ’ 16 When he heard this, he blushed, and filled with great shame
was cut to the quick on the spot. Weeping and wailing he lifted his
tearful eyes to the heavens and said, ' Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of
souls, who desireth not the death of sinners, but rather that they may
turn from their wickedness and live 41 I pray you correct me and take this
shameful dishonour from me or, indeed, if you so wish, take me now
from this wretched life, that I might no longer hear reproaches to my
face’. 17 Straightaway the Pious Godhead did not disdain to hear him,
but at once in that self-same place struck him down with sickness and
caused him to bum with a powerful fever. 18 His mighty right hand
worked such a change in him, turning him to a better life 42 that,
abhorring all delights of the flesh and with his mind afire, he at once
sought the remedy of penance: that is he fervently sought the sacrament
of the body and blood of his Lord. 19 But while the gentle abbot
thought he was asking for this because he was fevered or with profane
intent he did not give him full penance, but merely ministered to him
the grace of the viaticum , 43 But after three days and as many nights of
weeping and by a wondrous confession, the monk convinced him of his
sincerity. 20 Three days later when he was on the point of journeying
from his body, he made his farewells to all the brethren, saying ‘Know
that all my sins have been forgiven. And, lo, before the gates of heaven
the most holy apostles Peter and Paul with the blessed Laurence,
archdeacon and martyr 44 with an innumerable host dressed in gleaming
white are waiting for me, with whom I must go to the Lord.’ And so
speaking he passed from the body which was buried according to
custom. 21 Fifteen years later that noteworthy river, the Guadiana , 45

40 The phrase ‘full of years’ presages the monk’s imminent demise. It is found in the
account of Abraham’s ( Genesis 25.8) and Isaac’s ( Genesis 35.29) deaths.

41 The prayer of absolution, based on Ezekiel 33.11. This is still found as the Prayer of
Absolution for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer.

42 cf Psalm 77.10-11.

43 Communion given in the face of death.

44 A deacon of Spanish origin martyred at Rome in AD 258 and the subject of
Prudentius, Peristephanon Martyrorum 2. His cult remains popular in Spain to this day.
There is a service for his feast day (10th August) in the Gothic Breviary , PL 86 1178-
1183.

45 Taken directly from Prudentius, Peristephanon Martyrorum 3.188: ‘memorabilis amnis
Ana’.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

flooded and having broken its banks, spread its waters far and wide,
laying in ruins many buildings in the little villages by its stream and in
similarwise overturned the cells of the monastery at Cauliana. 46 22
When the monks wished to restore them, it came to pass that while they
were laying the foundations upon the cell where this monk lay, they
came across his tomb. And straightaway a heavenly odour came from
it. 47 He himself was found to be whole and uncorrupted as if he had
been buried that very hour nor were his vestments or hair found in any
part to be corrupted. 48

3. Here begins the account of the death of abbot Nanctus

1 While we have been trying to relate these recent events, we have
passed over the deeds of our ancestors. 2 A great number of men say
that many years ago in the time of Leovigild, king of the Visigoths, 49
an abbot called Nanctus came from the lands of Africa to the province
of Lusitania. 50 After he had lived here for some time in a most holy
fashion, he eagerly came through his devotion to the basilica of the most

46 The last devastating flood was in 1947, see Alvarez Martinez [1983] lam.2.

47 cf 2 Corinthians 2.15. The smell was a clear sign of sanctity - see Gregory of Tours’
account of the discovery of the grave of St Mallosus at Metz, GM 62.

48 cf / Corinthians 15.52. For a similar sweet-smelling, uncorrupted corpse see Gregory
of Tours’ account of that of St Valerius of Saint-Lizier, GC 83.

49 Joint ruler with Liuva from AD 568-572, sole ruler from AD 572-586.

50 We are given no reason for Nanctus’ departure from Africa. It may have been
provoked by the growing instability of the area, cf Donatus, DV1 4. Alternatively he may
have left as a consequence of the 3 Chapters controversy. This was provoked by
Justinian’s clumsy attempt to bring monophysite sects back into the Orthodox fold. To do
this the emperor attempted to unify the church around a condemnation of Nestorianism.
Therefore in AD 543/4 he issued an edict (now lost) condemning the writings of Theodore
of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and the letter of Ibas to Mari (the ‘Three Chapters’).
All of these works had been cleared of heresy at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451.
The edict was confirmed at the controversial 5th ecumenical council held at
Constantinople in AD 553. Despite the reluctant acquiescence of Pope Vigilius, the
Western churches reacted with hostility to what was perceived as an attempt to move the
church in the direction of monophysitism whose adherents were not in fact mollified by
Justinian’s actions. The strongest reaction came in Africa, see Markus [1966]. In these
circumstances flight to Spain, which, while ruled by an Arian, had an Orthodox church
hostile to Justinian and the Three Chapters (see Isidore, DVI 18) and was outside the
ambit of Imperial persecution, may well have seemed highly attractive.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

holy virgin Eulalia where her most holy body lies at rest. 3 It is said
that he avoided the sight of women above all things, just as he would
a viper’s bite, 51 not because he despised the sex, but because he feared
that through looking on their beauty he would fall into the sin of
temptation. 52 So wherever he went, he arranged that one monk should
walk a short distance in front of him and another a little behind so that
on no occasion should a woman see him. 4 When, as we have said, he
came to the basilica of the holy virgin and martyr Eulalia, he begged
with many prayers that most reverend man, the deacon Redemptus 53
who was in charge of the place, to station guards in such a way that no
woman might see him from afar when he went at night from his cell to
the church to pray. 5 After he had tarried for some days in that holy
church, a most noble and holy widow called Eusevia desired with all her
might to see him, but he would in no way suffer to be seen by her. 6
When various men had repeatedly asked him that he might deem it fit
to see her and he would not at all consent, she formed a plan and asked
deacon Redemptus to arrange that the holy man be surrounded by bright
candlelight after morning prayer when he was returning from the church
to his cell, so that she, standing in a hiding place, might be able to see
him, albeit from afar. And so it came to pass. 7 But when the woman’s
gaze fell upon him, although he was not aware of it, he prostrated
himself on the ground with a great groan, as if he had been struck by
heavy blow from a great stone. Then he said to the deacon, ‘May God
forgive you, brother. What have you done?’ 8 After this he immediately

51 Perhaps a reference to the serpent of the Garden of Eden.

52 See Gregory the Great, Dial. 3.16 for Martin of Campania who vowed not to look on
a woman. Conversely St Martin of Tours found a female hermit who refused to have
contact with men, including St Martin himself, Sulpicius Severus, DiallA.

The Apophegmata of the desert fathers contain the story of a monk who left a road
when he saw a group of nuns coming along it. As he passed, their superior shouted out
to him, if you were a true monk you would not have noticed that we were women.’
(Nau, Revue de VOrient Chretien 1908, saying 155 or, more accessibly. Ward [1986]
saying 22). Perhaps an example of such holiness is recorded by Gregory of Tours {VP 1.2,
1.6) in his life of St Romanus. Romanus we are told, although his colleague St Lupicinus
vowed never to meet a woman, ministered to men and women alike in his ‘simplicity’ and
asked not to be buried in a monastery where his corpse would have been inaccessible to
women in order that both sexes could be healed at his tomb.

53 Possibly the Redemptus of 5.11.20-21 in charge of the convent of St Eulalia and
Masona’s bank.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

left and with a few brothers set out for the wilderness where on his
arrival he built for himself built a lowly dwelling place. When his fame
spread because of his many virtues, news of it came to the hearing of
Prince Leovigild, 9 who although he was an Arian nevertheless, in order
that Nanctus should commend him to God through his prayers, made
over to him by written decree a special part of the royal estate from
which he along with his brothers could obtain food and clothing. 54 10
The man of God altogether refused to accept this boon. But when he
persisted in his refusal, the messenger sent by the king came to him and
said, ‘You ought not to despise your son’s gift’ and through his
persuasion Nanctus at last accepted the grant. 11 After some days had
passed, the men who lived in that place began to say to one another,
‘Let us go and see what this master we have been given is like.’ 55 When
they went and had seen him in his wretched clothes and with his hair
uncut, 56 they despised him and said to one another, ‘It would be better
for us to die than serve such a master’. 57 12 Some days later when the
holy man of God had set forth to graze his few sheep in a copse,
coming across him alone, they broke his neck and killed him. 13 Not
long afterwards, they were taken on a charge of murder and brought
before king Leovigild in chains. He was told that these were the men
who had killed the man of God. 14 He, although he was not of the right
faith, rightly sentenced them, saying, ‘Free them from their chains and
let them go. If they have killed a servant of God, let God avenge the
death of His servant without recourse to my vengeance.’ 15 When he
said this, they were set free and at once seized by demons who afflicted
them for many days until they drove their souls from their bodies
through a cruel death. Thanks be to God.

54 This neutral depiction of Leovigild contrasts sharply with the hostile light in which he
is later portrayed. Leovigild’s attitude to the Catholic church seems to have varied,
Gregory of Tours, GC 12, tells us he restored everything his troops had plundered from
a Catholic monastery dedicated to St Martin of Tours in the province of Valencia.
However there can be no doubt that later in his reign he persecuted the Catholic church
severely, see Gregory of Tours, HF 5.38.

55 This exhortation bears strong verbal parallels to that of the Shepherds in Luke’s
account of the Nativity, see Luke 2.15.

56 A sign of a slave, see LV 9.1.5.

57 Given the verbal echoes above the hagiographer wishes the reader to recall John 1.10-
11 here.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

4. Here begins the account of the deaths and miracles of the holy
bishops of Merida

Preface

1 Leaving aside the bedecked tropes of speech and discarding the long-
winded froth of eloquence, we shall relate to simple folk in a simple
and truthful fashion things which are altogether true. 2 For if we should
wish to wrap up in darkly obscure speech those things which can be
learnt more clearly by the light of day, we should weary, not instruct
the minds of our audience, since when the uneducated masses do not
understand the sense of the words used, listening becomes wearisome
for them. 3 Therefore, as we have promised, we shall relate the miracles
performed by the holy fathers of old in simple fashion, just as they were
handed down to us by the reports of many men. 58

1 It is often told how a holy man called Paul, a Greek by nationality 59
and a doctor by trade, came from the lands of East to the city of
Merida. 2 When he had lived there for a long time, gaining a good
reputation from his sanctity and many good deeds, and surpassing
everyone in his humility and kindness, the Lord granted him the gift of
becoming bishop of the town. 3 When, with God’s favour, he was
ordained bishop, at once God did away with all the storms of strife
which had troubled the church in the time of his predecessor and
through Paul’s prayers granted his church the greatest tranquillity. 60

58 For a parallel to the tropes used here see VS A 2 & 5.

59 It is unclear whether this is a reference to Paul’s race or the fact that he is a Greek-
speaker (cf. the Greek Syro-Phoenician woman of Mark 1.26) There is no reason to infer
a substantial Greek colony was present in Merida from the few inscriptions written in
Greek found there, see Arce [1982].

60 Unfortunately nothing is known of these events. Possibly there is an allusion to the
civil war between Agila and Athanagild (AD 551-555) which led to the murder of Agila
by his own men in Merida, Isidore, HG 45-46. However as we know that Masona was
bishop by AD 573, the implied long incumbencies of his two predecessors make this
chronology very tight if not impossible, see Garvin [1946] 359. It is more likely that
internal ecclesiastical strife is being hinted at by the hagiographer; see VPE 4.4.5 below

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

1 While he, with God’s favour, was peacefully and benignly presiding
over all the citizens and showing the sweet-flowing care of his holy
heart in return for the affections of all, it came to pass that the wife of
a most noble man, one of the leading citizens of the town who was bom
of senatorial stock fell ill. 61 She too was of glorious descent and a noble
family. 2 She had conceived after her wedding, but the child had died
in her belly. Many doctors had tried a variety of treatments on her, but
she felt no improvement in her body and was in grave danger, daily
drawing closer to death. 3 There was nothing dearer to her illustrious
husband than his wife, whom he had recently taken in the sacrament of
matrimony, so spuming all doctors, he rushed to the holy man in the
hope of restoring her health and cast himself at his feet. He tearfully
begged him, that, as he was a servant of God, he should intercede in his
prayers for the health of his wife, or surely, as he was a doctor, not
think it unworthy for him to give the sick woman the favour of being
cured by his own hand. 4 But straightaway the man of the Lord replied
to him, saying, ‘I am not permitted to do what you ask of me, for,
although unworthy, I am a priest of the Lord and offer sacrifice to the
Lord with my hands, and so am not able to do what you implore me to
do, lest afterwards I should come to the holy altar with polluted hands
and incur forthwith the wrath of the divine Godhead.’ 62 5 To which he
added, ‘We will go in the name of the Lord to visit her and entrust her
to the doctors of the church 63 that they might give her medicine and to
the best of our knowledge we will show them how they might effect a
cure. I, however, cannot treat her with my own hands.’ 6 The nobleman
knowing that no other doctor could produce a cure and that his wife was
already close to death, began to weep greatly and earnestly begged him

for further hints that these problems in fact continued during Paul's episcopate and DVI,
preface for an account of similar problems at Toledo.

61 Presumably this is the senate of the town. Cf the senate of Cantabria, VS A 33.

62 Our earliest indication of the prohibition of the medical profession for priests which
remained in force in the Roman Catholic church until 1983.

63 This reference shows that the doctors of Masona’s xenodocium were not an innovation
for the Meridan Church. ICERV 288 records a doctor [Reccar]edus from the town. The
inscription probably dates to the sixth century. For a general discussion of the practice of
medicine in Merida in the Roman and Visigothic periods see Sanabria Escudero [1964].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

not to send anyone to his house, but to come himself and apply his
knowledge with his own hands. 7 When he would not agree or in
anyway consent to this, all the brethren who were by him also begged
him with tears in their eyes to go. He then said, ‘I know the great
compassion of the Lord and believe that if I go, he shall restore to this
sick soul her former health, and straightaway grant me pardon for my
presumption. But I have no doubt at all that wicked men will hold up
this case against me in the future.’ 64 8 To which all his brethren replied.
‘None of us shall say anything on account of this. But go, master, and
perform with all haste that which will bring you rewards.’ At last,
overcome by their prayers, he promised to go, provided that beforehand
he might ask permission of the Lord, lest rashly embarking on this task
he might easily perform something, for which, if he was condemned by
the judgement of God, he would only obtain pardon with difficulty. 9
Therefore he went at once to the basilica of the most holy virgin Eulalia
and prostrating himself on the flags 65 lay there for a whole day and
persevering in tireless prayer remained there the following night too. 10
Here he was given instructions by a divine oracle and at once rose and
went without delay and in haste to the house of the sick woman, where
he poured forth his prayer, and in the name of the Lord placed his
hands on the sick soul. 11 Placing his hope in God, with wondrous skill
he made a most skilful incision by his cunning use of the knife and
extracted the already decaying body of the infant limb by limb, piece by
piece and, with God’s aid, restored forthwith the woman who was on
the point of dying and only half alive, safe and sound to her husband.
12 He told her that she should have no further knowledge of her
husband, for if at some time in the future she should know his embrace,
worse troubles would soon befall her. 66 13 But nonetheless they fell at
his feet, thanked him, and promised that they would obey the man of
God in everything that he commanded, begging God to inflict worse
suffering on them in the future if they did not keep their promise. 14

64 An insight into the ecclesiastical politics of the day and a hint perhaps that Paul’s rule
was not as calm as the hagiographer implies.

65 Though Prudentius (Peristephanon Kfartyrorum 3.198-200) mentions a mosaic floor
in Eulalia’s shrine this was probably destroyed by the Vandals in AD 429. Mosaics are
very rare in the Visigothic period so a simple flagged floor is more likely here.

66 It appears that the woman’s deliverance is regarded almost as an act of Penance.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

There was indescribable happiness and unbounded joy in their house; all
acclaimed God with their praise, and, praying and exulting, declared that
the Lord had truly sent his angel who had pity on her. 67 15 Then they
drew up a document about their affairs to the effect that the holy man
should immediately receive half of all they owned and that the other
half should come under his control in its entirety and inviolate after
their death. 68 They had such possessions that no richer senator than them
could be found in the province of Lusitania. 16 Paul rejected their offer
outright, refused it, and had no wish to accept, but they beseeched and
pressed him so much that finally he was compelled to accept. On
receiving this gift, he saw to it that the wealth served the needs of the
poor rather than his own personal expenses. 17 The couple who had
made this offering continued in chastity and the fear of God and not
long afterwards were called by divine summons to the kingdom above. 69
18 On their death the most holy bishop Paul received their entire
patrimony and while he had arrived as a stranger owning nothing, he
now became more powerful than all the potentates of the town so that
all the belongings of the church were considered as nothing in
comparison to his possessions. 70

1 Finally, when he had passed very many happy years with his people,
and living in a way pleasing to God had flourished ever full of virtue,

2 it happened that one day some Greek traders from the region from
which he himself had come, arrived in their ships from the East and put
in on the shore of Spain. When they came to the city of Merida,

67 cf Acts 12.11.

68 Visigothic women retained control of their property after marriage, including property
acquired in the period of marriage, LV 3.2.6.

69 An act of divine mercy as it reduced the time in which they could lapse from their
vows.

70 The point of this comparison implies that the Meridan church owned considerable
wealth even prior to this bequest.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

according to custom they presented themselves on arrival to the
bishop. 71 3 When they had been received by him in a kindly fashion
they left his palace 72 and retired to the house where they were staying. 73
On the following day they sent him a small gift to thank him. It was
taken by a boy called Fidel, who had come from their country with
them as a hired hand to seek his fortune. 4 When he had been presented
before Paul and the holy man had joyfully received the gift he had
brought as token of thanks, the bishop began to question him point by
point as to what he was called and from what province or town he
came. 5 When he told him his name and named his home town, the
bishop seeing the young man that he was industrious 74 questioned him
about everything, taking one thing at a time, and asked the names of his
parents. 75 By this questioning the boy revealed to Paul in all honesty his
homeland, town, village, and the names of his parents. 6 As he was
telling him, Paul recognised the name of his sister. At once he leapt
from his seat and in the sight of all fell upon him with embraces, for his
bowels yearned upon him, 76 and hanging upon his neck kissed him for

71 The Pulo do Lobo rapids down river from Merida near Mertola, where the river falls
some 50 feet means that it would have been impossible for the traders to reach the town
by river, see Alvarez Martinez [1983] 10-11 & lam.3. It is more likely that they put in at
Seville and travelled along the old Roman Road through the Sierra Morena to Merida. A
ship dating from the Byzantine period was found in the Plaza Nueva at Seville during
abortive attempts to build a metro for the city. For an enthusiastic attitude towards trade
see Garcia Moreno [1972], contra Arce [1982]. Byzantine influence was however fairly
strong in Visigothic Spain, see Schlunk [1945a] and the remarks of Cruz Villalon [1982]
425 ‘la base primordial del reportorio iconogr&fico emeritense es bizantina’.

The traders’ reception may indicate the predominant position of the Orthodox bishop
in the life of the town (coming from the Orthodox East they would be unlikely to
acknowledge an Arian bishop however important in local life) as is sometimes claimed
however the hagiographer may simply be uninterested in the secular obligations of the
traders such as the possible need to present themselves to the Count of the town.

72 Referred to as the atrium. For this usage see Isidore, Etymologiae 15.3.4. The palace
may have been built on the site of the Palacio del Duque de la Roca which was
demolished in AD 1887, see Alvarez S£enz de Buruaga [1975].

73 It is unclear whether this house was a commercial enterprise or a predecessor of
Masona’s xenodocium.

74 1 Kings 11.28 - said of Solomon on seeing David.

75 cf Genesis 43.7.

76 cf / Kings 3.26.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

a good while and wept forth the fullness of his joy. 77 7 Straightaway he
ordered the merchants to come before him and said to them, ‘Give me
this boy and ask whatever you want of me for him.’ 8 They replied,
‘This we cannot do for he is a freeman. We hired him from his parents
to help us and we can in nowise return to them without him, nor will
be able to look them in the eye if we leave him in such a far-flung
country’. 78 9 He replied, ‘Let it be clear to you that if you do not leave
me him, you shall not return to your own country, but accept a goodly
sum of money from me and depart in safety, travelling in peace.’ 79 10
On hearing this, they were no longer able to resist such power and said
to him, ‘Tell us, Lord, why do you see fit to cherish with such love a
man who is unknown to you?’ 11 He then replied that he was a relative
and indeed a very close kinsman. He added, ‘Go in the Name of the
Lord, and tell my sister without delay that I have kept her son with me
as a consolation in my captivity.’ He sent various gifts to his sister
through them and also rewarded the sailors generously so that enriched
by his presents they returned to their country with great joy. 80

1 When they departed, he had this youth tonsured and brought him to
serve almighty God. Like another Samuel he rigorously trained him by
day and night in the temple of the Lord so that within a few years he
knew perfectly all the offices of the church and the entire corpus of
divine scripture. 81 Then, taking him through ranks of the church one by
one, he ordained him as a deacon. 2 Made a dwelling place of the Holy

77 cf Genesis 46.29.

78 cf Genesis 44.23.

79 A somewhat surprising attitude from a man of God. The implied power which lies
behind this successful threat is unclear. As Orthodox believers from a hostile power Paul
may merely have been threatening to denounce the merchants to the Gothic authorities of
Merida as spies.

8(1 Despite the various biblical parallels it is clear that Bishop Paul all but kidnapped
Fidel, unless the story disguises a deliberate act of nepotism on his part.

81 cf 1 Samuel 2.18 ff. The ignorance of the clergy greatly exercised the Visigothic
Church. St Aemilian when made a priest knew only 8 psalms, VSA 12. IV Toledo 26 (AD
633) provided that priests be given a Book of Offices to ensure they performed their
duties correctly.

LIVES OF THE VISOGOTHIC FATHERS

Spirit, he was so filled with every virtue that he surpassed all the clergy
in holiness, charity, patience, and humility. He made himself so dear
and so great a friend to both God and men that he was thought one of
the angels. 3 Then, when for very many years he had served God
without reproach and obeyed in sweet submission his teacher in
everything and, never giving him offence, had in his gentleness
gladdened his old age, the most blessed Paul, now that his many years
had run their course and as he was verging on man’s age of decrepitude,
chose him to succeed him and, while still alive, ordained him as his
successor. 82 He also made him heir of all his possessions, placing in the
codicil of his will the condition that if the clergy of Merida were willing
to have him as their bishop, on his death Fidel would in turn leave
everything to the Meridan church that Renovatus had left to him,
otherwise he would have a free choice to dispose and deal with the
aforementioned goods as he saw fit. 83 5 Truly the holy man made this
decree through a revelation of the Holy Spirit, 84 knowing through the
grace of prophecy that there would be no lack of wicked men to oppose
Fidel through their envy: men, who like dogs, inflamed with the fires
of envy would later surround him on all sides and wound him with their
bites. 85 6 Meanwhile, when under God’s auspices Paul had made Fidel
a priest, Fidel wished to stand by him and serve him as he had when he
was a deacon and so taking off his chasuble 86 as if he were but a
servant, he stood by him and performed his every chore. 7 Paul forbade
him to act in this way and finally admonished him to preserve with
constancy the authority of his episcopate, commanding him rather to
spend his care on the well-being of his brethren. 8 The most holy old
man himself soon abandoned his palace and all the privileges of his
office and took himself off to a mean cell by the basilica of St Eulalia.
One day while he was there, freed from the tempests of this world and

82 A flagrant breech of Canon Law. The practice had been banned by Antioch 23 (AD
341) which is referred to in the Acts of 2 Braga (AD 572), showing that its provisions
were well known in the peninsula.

83 The hagiographer has no reproach for this act of blackmail which verges on simony.

84 Our author is embarrassed enough to indulge in special pleading here.

85 cf Psalm 22.16

86 This garment marked him as a priest rather than a deacon.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

being greatly at peace, he passed from the body as he lay in sack-cloth
and ashes, 87 praying to the Lord for the sins of the whole world.

1 After his death, some poisonous men, just as the man of God had
predicted, began to murmur with wicked words against the most blessed
bishop Fidel in order to drive him from the place where he had been set
whenever the opportunity presented itself. 2 When he learned of this
and wished to free himself together with his possessions from their
onset, as it became known that he would leave them taking all his
possessions with him as was his right under church law 88 and that
nothing at all would be left for them, they prostrated themselves, though
more unwillingly than willingly, before his feet and begged him with
many prayers not to leave them. 3 He showed himself in nowise
unwilling to perform the burdens of his office and at the end of his life
to leave all his patrimony to the church. And this came to pass, so that
in those days the church of Merida was so wealthy that no church in the
land of Spain was richer. 4 And so, with the Lord’s aid, the pure and
sincere love of all for him was made so manifest that everyone of one
accord, aflame with their great love of charity, burned for him with the
boundless fire of holy ardour and forming with him one heart and one
pair of lips they remained in perfect harmony nor did they allow
dissention to creep in by turning to another love. 89

1 Since we have made mention of so great a priest, it seems especially
worthwhile to put on record some small part of those his deeds through
which he frequently demonstrated his virtue. 2 Once on the Lord’s Day,

87 For the symbolism of this see Isidore, De Eccl. Off. 2.17.4-5.

88 Another sign of embarrassment? Fidel certainly does not seem interested in a life of
apostolic poverty.

89 cf Acts 4.32. Fidel is seen as bringing apostolic fervour back to the church in an early
example of religious revivalism. However given what we have just been told above, the
hagiographer might be thought to protest a little too much in his assertions concerning
Fidel’s popularity.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

when he was sitting in his palace with many sons of the church, the
archdeacon with all the clergy clothed in white came in and stood
before him as is the custom. 3 He rose and with deacons carrying
censers going before him, as was the custom, he went with all who were
present to the church that at God’s command they might celebrate the
solemn offices of the mass. 4 When they had all left the palace and had
gone about ten paces from it, suddenly the whole of this huge edifice
collapsed from the depths of its foundations, but God ordained that no
one was to be crushed under it. 5 From this fact we should believe that
this man was of such merit that by his prayers he obtained from God
the boon that the Ancient Enemy should not be given the power to cast
down so huge a structure in ruins before he, God having pity on him,
had saved everyone by leading them outside without a single one of
them being lost. Let no one doubt that this was granted above all
through the merits of the most holy virgin Eulalia. 6 When after
anxiously making inquiries he found that no one had perished, his soul
was not at all sad, but rather he gave thanks to the Lord, joyfully
performed the sacrifice to God, and spent that day with all his people
rejoicing in the Lord. 7 After a short space of time, he restored the
fabric of his ruined seat and, with God’s help, made it more beautiful
than before. He built an edifice which was enormous in both its length
and breadth with a lofty roof. He gave the luxurious halls decorated
pillars for their supports and clothed the entire floor and walls in
gleaming marbles, placing a marvellous ceiling above them. 8 Then he
restored and improved the basilica of the most holy virgin Eulalia in a
wondrous fashion, building towers with lofty gables on the high roof of
that most holy church. 90

90 cf The Passio S Mantii describing how the chapel built over Mantius’ body at Miliana
near Evora was replaced by a larger building after the conversion of the Sueves. This is
the only passage from the Visigothic period which refers to church towers. These are
unlikely to have been bell towers as there are no references to church bells prior to the
ninth century. Cerillo [1978] suggests they were analogous to the cupolae found on
Byzantine churches, an attractive suggestion given the influence of Byzantine architecture

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

1 Even while still in the flesh this blessed man is said to have often
been seen standing and singing in the choir of the church with the hosts
of the saints. 91 Many other tales are told about him which we shall
decline to relate on account of the length of the telling, lest they should
become burdensome to our readers. 92 2 One day he sent a boy from his
household to a place called Caspiana, sixteen miles away from Merida
and instructed him to return in all haste. 3 He, when he had gone and
was unable to return the same day, stayed there. At nightfall when he
was already asleep, he dreamt that the cocks had crowed. Waking at
once, he mounted his horse and hurried through the middle of the night
until he came to the gate of the city which is called the Gate of the
Bridge. 93 4 When he had been there a long time, he realised that he had
risen at an untimely hour and that, though he had shouted, no one would
open the gate for him when he called, and so he decided to put his
horse to grass for a short while until someone should unbar the gate. 5
And, lo, lifting up his eyes in the stillness of the night, he saw far off
a fiery globe 94 coming from the church of St Faustus 95 which lies around
a mile from the town. Setting out from there, it passed to the basilica
of St Lucretia. 96 6 He watched this in silence wondering what it might

91 For attestations of choirs as part of a Visigothic church see ICERV 312 (Baildn) and
ICERV 352c (Seville).

92 cf VSA 2 & 5.

93 A reference to the great Roman bridge across the Guadiana. This was restored in the
Visigothic period by the Gothic and the Orthodox bishop of the day, Zeno, in AD 483,
ICERV 363. For a full study of the structure see Alvarez Martinez [1983]. This means that
Caspiana would have been found to the West of the city rather than the North as Garvin
([1946] 398) suggests.

94 cf the column of fire which preceded Israel by night in the desert. Exodus 13.21 -22 and
Prudentius’ account of such a column preceding Eulalia on her path to martyrdom,
Peristephanon Martyrorum 3.49-55.

95 Martyred in Cordoba with lanuarius and Martial in c.AD 304. Prudentius refers to him
and his fellow martyrs as the ‘three crowns’ of the town, Peristephanon Martyrorum 4.19-
20. Faustus’ feast day is 19th October and an office in his honour is found in the Gothic
Breviary on that day = PL 86 1225-1226.

96 This church was identified with the Ermita de Nuestra Seflora de Loreto by Moreno
de Vargas [1633] 196, 248, 489 who argued that Lucretia’s name had mutated to this
form. Despite the stigmatisation of this view as ‘weird’ by Garvin [1946] 402, it has

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

be, then all at once there came a multitude of saints whom the light
preceded, who crossing the bridge, arrived at the gate and amongst their
number walked the most holy Fidel. 7 When they reached the gate, the
boy, seeing the columns of white-clad saints had multiplied and that the
holy Fidel wearing a white cloak was hurrying along in their midst, was
astounded. Petrified, he began to tremble and through his fear became
as a dead man. 97 8 The Deity opened the bars of the gates for the host
and they entered the city. When they had gone in, the boy rising up
wished to go in after them, but was in no way able to do so, for he
found the gate secured just as it had been before. 9 When it was opened
at dawn, he went to the palace and straightaway the holy man asked him
at what hour he had set out from Caspiana. The boy told him the hour
at which he had risen and the delay that he had experienced at the gate.
10 When the man of God then asked him if he had not seen something
and he confessed that he had, Fidel warned him to make no mention of
it, while he, the Holy man, remained in the body, to avoid coming into
great peril.

1 Similarly a certain devout man once saw him going with a host of
saints one night from the church of the holy Eulalia and journeying to
the basilicas of the martyrs, but acting foolishly he at once told many
people about it. 2 Finally he came to the man of God and told him what
he had seen. Fidel asked him, ‘Have you spoken of what you saw to
anyone or not?’ He at once replied, saying in all honesty that he had. 3
Then the bishop said to him, ‘May God have mercy on you, brother, for
you have not acted rightly. I know that you will not be blamed for this
in the judgement which is to come. But now take communion and give
us a farewell kiss, 93 for you are about to go on your journey. Arrange

received support from Garcia Moreno [1976] 321. Cruz Villalon [1982] 412 however
believes the Visigothic remains here are from a later period. The saint herself is almost
unknown, though she does feature in Hagenoyen’s additions to Usuard’s ninth century
martyrology = PL 124 732. Her feast day is 23rd of November.

97 cf Matthew 28.4 - the resurrected Christ appears in white and makes the guards of his
tomb faint in terror.

98 cf Paul, The kiss of farewell is referred to by the Common Rule attributed to St
Fructuosus, 2 and Isidore, Rule 6.3.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

your household affairs" in all haste and if you desire the remedy of
penance, take it.’ 4 He at once took the rite of penance, ordered his
house, bade farewell to all, and the following night passed from his
body. 100

1 Once a certain devout man, thinking over the office of the church
while he lay in bed, was overcome by sleep in the stillness of the night.
He dreamt that the sign for Lauds had been given 2 and rising at once,
he went with all haste to the church. In order not to miss the time of the
sacred office, he sped on his way running and arrived there breathless.
3 When he entered the Church of St Mary which is now called Holy
Jerusalem, 101 he heard the voices of men singing with wonderful
modulation 102 and looking towards the choir he saw a multitude of saints
standing there. 4 Struck with the extremes of terror and trembling, he
took himself off silently into a comer of the basilica. Carefully hidden
and looking on in silence, he heard the whole office performed by them
in its customary order. 5 When they had finished their office shortly
before cock-crow, they went singing praises 103 from the church of St
Mary to the little basilica of St John where the baptistery is. This is
hard fast by the church of St Mary: there is merely a wall between
them, and both are covered by the same roof. 104 6 When they had
finished their praises, they began to say to one another, ‘Behold the
hour has come when they ought to be given the sign. Therefore we must

99 cf Isaiah 38.1.

100 cf 2 Samuel 17.23.

101 The cathedral church of Merida. See 5.6.14. Giving the cathedral church the title Holy
Jerusalem was a common Spanish practice being found at Seville, Toledo, and Tarragona.
The site of the church was probably that of the present church of Sta Maria, see Cruz
Villal6n [1982] and Mateos Cruz [1992].

102 For descriptions of Mozarabic chant see Rojo & Prado [1929], Prado [1928], and
Angles [1940]. 4 Toledo 13 (AD 633) urged the composition of hymns.

103 Garvin [1946] 412 wishes cum laudibus to be read in the technical sense as Lauds.
However the hagiographer has already told us that this office had been completed.

104 A similar arrangement to that at Merida where cathedral, episcopal palace, and
baptistry are found in close proximity is found at Idanha-a-Velha in Portugal, see Almeida
[1977]. For a more general discussion of ecclesiastical topography see Greenslade [1966].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

first see to that for which we were sent’. 7 When they had said this,
there appeared in their sight some hideous and terrifying Ethiopians,
giants, most vile to behold in their darkness, so that from their restless
gaze and jet-black faces he was given to understand as he saw them
clearly that they were beyond doubt servants of hell. 105 They carried
sharp scythes 106 in their hands. 8 The saints then said to them, ‘Go with
all speed to the palace, enter the cell where holy Fidel the bishop lies,
and deal him a grave wound to his body so that his soul might swiftly
leave the chains of the flesh and be able to come with us to our Lord
Jesus Christ and the crown which has been prepared for it. 107 9 They
went at once in obedience to their orders, but returned without striking
him, saying, ‘We cannot enter his cell for he is not sleeping, but lying
prostrate on the ground in prayer. Moreover his cell is full of the
sweetest smell of incense and the power of so much fragrant incense
which he has offered to the Lord is such that it prevents our entering
there. 10 They ordered them again, saying, ‘Go and strike him, for the
command of the Lord must be obeyed’. When they had gone and were
unable to enter they returned again saying, ‘His prayer altogether
prevents us from entering’. 11 To which they replied, ‘Prayer gives way
when the call comes. Go and fulfil the command of the Lord which
once given can never be ignored.’ And when they went a third time by
the Lord’s permission they entered. There they struck him so fierce and
cruel a blow that the devout man who was standing in the church
clearly heard his voice coming forth, groaning in great pain. 12 When
the dawn came, he went to the holy bishop and told him everything that
he had seen and heard. He replied, ‘I know, my son, I know, it is in
nowise hidden from me’.

105 St Perpetua had a vision in which she wrestled an Egyptian who symbolised the devil,
Passio of St Perpetua and St Felicity 10. For the black colour of the devil see also
Gregory the Great, HEv 1.12.7 and Rush [1941] 210-211. For the notion of the Devil as
God’s agent or exactor see Gregory the Great, HEv 2.39.5 & Mor 4.35.69. The theme
reoccurs in VPE at 5.6.1.

106 ‘Rhomphaea’. This was a curved, scythe-like pole-weapon used originally by the
Dacians.

107 cf Matthew 25.34.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

1 When he said this and straightaway felt his entire body give way, his
limbs losing their strength as the disease fell upon them, he ordered that
he be taken to the basilica of the most holy virgin Eulalia. 2 There he
first wept for his sins, gaining satisfaction in floods of tears. Then he
gave large sums of alms to prisoners and the needy. Finally he remitted
everyone’s debts, returning their pledges to them. 3 When he had
returned these to one and all, there remained the notice of a certain
widow which had not yet been returned. He waited for the widow to
return it to her, but, like the feeble woman she was, she was unable to
approach him because he was surrounded by a dense crowd. 4 When she
had come for several days and had been unable to find a place, she
panicked, her mind making her sorrowful, and, achieving nothing, she
returned grief-stricken to her lodgings. Then one night the most holy
martyrs Cyprian 108 and Laurence appeared before her in a dream and
said, ‘Do you know why you cannot get a place?’, and she replied, ‘I
know not.’ They then said to her, ‘Why do you often hurry to the
basilicas of the rest of our brethren and yet spurn to come to us?’ 6 She
rose at once and hurried to their basilicas and weeping poured out her
prayers, begging pardon for the neglect she had showed in the past. She
then went to the basilica of saint Eulalia and with wondrous speed
found a place and received her notice without any difficulty. She gave
great thanks to God, for she had not only found her appointed place as
she entered, but also because it had been so devised by the saints of
God that when she had entered the holy bishop had been holding her
notice in his hand waiting for the individual to whom he should return
it. 8 And it came to pass that after he had in his good will returned it
and she had joyfully received what she had long longed for, shortly
afterwards the holy man, preceded by the hosts of saints and expectant
angelic choruses, passed exultantly to the celestial realms, and joining
the heavenly hosts with everlasting joy earned the right, at Lord Jesus’
command, to be gathered into the heavenly mansions. 109 9 His body was

108 Bishop of Carthage and martyred in AD 258. See Prudentius, Peristephanon
Martyrorum 13.

109 cf John 14.2.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

placed by that of his most holy predecessor in one and the same tomb
and buried with honour in, so to speak, the same bed. 110

5. The Life and Virtues of the Holy Bishop Masona
1

1 When that gentle man of whom we have spoken passed to his
homeland above, the providence of the Divine Godhead chose as his
successor an Orthodox man named Masona, who was his equal in all his
virtues. And so a blessed man succeeded a blessed man, a holy man a
holy man, a pious man a pious man, a good man outstanding for his
kindness and every form of grace succeeded in the line of bishops one
who had shone forth with his enormous virtue - in short Masona
succeeded Fidel. 111 2 When his predecessor had been enrolled among the
starry citizens in the heavens, his manna-like sweetness and outstanding
merits assuaged the grief of all the citizens here on earth so that not
only did he dispel the grief of all at the death of so great a bishop 3 but,
as once happened with the fathers of old, Elijah and Elisha, the two-fold
grace 112 of the Comforting Spirit possessed by the holy bishop Fidel
seemed to all who looked on to have settled on the Holy bishop
Masona. 4 The result was that the people in no way were afflicted by
grief when their shepherd was taken from them, but rejoiced with a
twofold joy that God in his mercy had sent one man to heaven for their
salvation and had most graciously replaced him with a man of
outstanding virtue here on earth.

110 For an inscription referring to Fidel see S£enz de Buruaga [1970]. The crypt where
the bishops of Merida were interred is to be found inside the basilica of Sta Eulalia
beneath the southern end of the iconostasis, see Caballero Zoreda & Mateos Cruz [1992]
and [1993].

111 Mentioned by John of Biclarum, Chron. 30, as bishop in AD 573 when he was ‘held
in high esteem as an exponent of our doctrine’. There is no indication that this was the
first year of his incumbency. Masona was the first of the bishops listed as signing the acts
of 3 Toledo and of those listed at a synod held in Toledo in AD 597 (PL 84, 358). A
letter of Isidore addressed to Masona (PL 83 899-902) is dated to 28th February of the
2nd or 3rd year of Witteric, i.e. AD 605-606; however its authenticity is disputed. A
general though basic account of Masona’s life is found in Orlandis [1992] ch.2 For the
later cult of Masona see de Smedt [1885].

1,2 cf 2 Kings 2.9ff. ‘Two-fold’ refers to the ancient Hebrew practice of dividing an
inheritance by one more than the number of inheritors and awarding two portions to the
eldest son.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

1 The holy bishop Masona was sprung of what counts as noble stock on
this earth, but showed himself more noble still through the good deeds
of his life. 113 Although he was a Goth, 114 his mind was completely
dedicated to God and manfully steeped in the virtues of the Most High.
He was adorned by his holy way of life and handsome with a most
noble bearing 15 2 He had been clothed from birth in the gleaming stole
of charity 116 and humility, was stoutly girt with the belt of faith,
famously protected by prudence and justice, and greatly honoured by the
love of both God most high and his neighbour. 117 For beloved of God
and men, the wonder and glory of his age, a lover of his brethren, he
prayed greatly for his people, and his name, resplendent from the many
miracles he performed, became known throughout all the land. 3 In his
time through his prayers the Lord kept disease, plague, and famine far
from the city of Merida and indeed from all Lusitania, driving them far
away because of the merits of the most holy virgin Eulalia. 118 Moreover,
he deemed it worthy to impart such health and such a bounty of every
delight to all the people 4 that no one, not even a poor man, was seen
to be in need or to be wearied by want, but the poor just like the
wealthy had an abundance of all good things and all the people on earth
were joyful, as if they were rejoicing in heaven, at the virtue of so great
a bishop. 5 Joy entered into all, peace came upon everyone, no one was
a stranger to happiness, perfect charity flourished in every heart. The
peace that brings joy prevailed so strongly on the passions of everyone
that the Ancient Enemy was conquered and the Serpent of olden times
overthrown. 119 6 No-one was troubled by grief or afflicted by sorrow,

113 cf Potamia in VSA 7.

114 There is nothing to commend the theory of Teillet, referred to approvingly by Alonso
Campos [1986], that ‘Goth’ here is an indication of religious affiliation, i.e. Arianism,
rather than nationality.

115 cf II Maccabees 15.13 of Onias. The remark about Masona’s race may reflect the
hagiographer’s personal dislike of the Goths or alternatively be intended to emphasise that
it was unusual at this period for a Goth to be an Orthodox Christian. It suggests that the
hagiographer himself was a Hispano-Roman.

1.6 For the stole as the clothing of the elect see Revelation 7.14, 22.14.

1.7 cf Ephesians 6.13ff.

1.8 cf VSD 11 and Fidel and the collapsing episcopal palace at 4.6.1 above.

119 cf Revelation 12.9, Augustine, Ad CatechAA.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

nor was anyone struck by terror or affected by jealousy or envy so that
he shook with the virulent pangs of that cunning reptile, but all were
filled with perfect charity. Rejoicing with God’s aid through the grace
of their pious father and unperturbed, they all continued in constancy
with their praise of God free from any fear or dread. 7 And this great
love of Masona did not only bum in the innermost hearts of all the
faithful, but through his wondrous sweet affection he drew minds of all
the Jews 120 and pagans 121 to the grace of Christ.

1 Our lack of skill cannot recount in every detail how great and glorious
he was; but although we may be silent about his greatest deeds, we shall
at least tell of the very greatest of these. 122 2 Even before he was
ordained bishop, this man is said to have lived with the greatest
devotion in the basilica of the most holy virgin Eulalia and there served
God without reproach for many years. 3 After he was taken by the will
of God from that place where he had been spoken of by everyone and
had been admired by, and been an inspiration to them all, and ordained
bishop, at the very beginning of his incumbency he founded and richly
endowed many monasteries, built a even larger number of basilicas of
wondrous appearance, and consecrated in these places many souls to
God. 4 Then he built a xenodocium, enriching it with a large patrimony
and appointing ministers and doctors to serve travellers and the sick, 123

120 For the condition of the Jews in Visigothic Spain see Katz [1937], Rabello [1976], and
Garda Moreno [1993]. A Latin tombstone found at Merida and referring to a Rabbi
Samuel and a Rabbi Jacob (= IHE 289) has been dated to the Visigothic period by Roth
[1948], see also Mill£s Vallicrosa [1945].

121 This is the only mention of pagans in VPE. Paganism certainly survived in this period
in the Basque country and from St Martin of Braga’s (/7.C.AD 520-580) De Castigatione
Rusticorum appears to have been present in other northern parts of Spain.

The pagans have vanished in section 5.3.5 below, which suggests that their inclusion here
is merely rhetorical or that they were excluded from the xenodocium.

122 A common topos, see VS A 13.

123 Isidore, Etymologiae 15.3.13 lists the first xenodocium as being founded by the Jew
Hyrcanus as a lodging house for poor travellers. The notion of hospitality is as old as
classical civilisation, ‘xenodocus’ appears in the Odyssey .543, 15.55). The custom was
easily incorporated into the Christian tradition. Jerome (Ep. 66.11) praises the senator
Pammachius for establishing a xenodocium in Rome by the Portus Romanus in the late
fourth century AD. Similarly Gregory the Great (£p.l3.6) approves of Queen Brunhilda’s
foundation of one in Autun. Masona’s xenodocium is probably to be identified with a
building excavated in the barriada de Sta Catalina, see Mateos Cruz [1992] and Caballero
Zoreda and Mateos Cruz [1993]. It takes the form of a small central apsed chamber

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

giving them this command: 5 that the doctors should go through the
entire city without ceasing and whosoever they found that was sick, be
they slave or free, Christian or Jew, they were to carry in their arms to
the xenodocium, and having prepared there a well-made bed set the sick
man on it and give him light and pleasant food until, with God’s help,
they returned their patient to his former health. 6 And although an
abundance of delicacies were to be had from the many estates which
had been given to the xenodocium , this still seemed too little to the holy
man. So adding to all these great benefits still greater ones, he ordered
the doctors to ensure with the uttermost care that they should receive
half of all the revenues brought into the palace by all the actuaries from
the entire patrimony of the church in order that they could give this to
the sick. 124 7 Whenever one of the townsmen or a countryman from the
rural districts came out of need to the palace to ask the dispensers for
a measure of wine or oil or honey and held out a small vessel into
which it could be poured, if the holy man saw him, with a kindly face
and a happy smile, he always ordered the vessel to be broken and a
larger one be brought out. 8 How generous he was in giving alms to the
poor has been left for God alone to know. However let us speak a little
of this too. 9 So great was his concern for the tribulations of all the
poor that he gave two thousand solidi 125 to that venerable man, the
deacon Redemptus who was in charge of the basilica of St Eulalia, so

flanked at right angles by two much larger aisled rooms. It would have lain outside the
walls of the city, the normal location for such buildings, Hubert [1959]. Many of the
travellers are likely to have been pilgrims to Eulalia’s shrine.

124 cf 3 Toledo 3 (AD 589) which forbids the alienation of church property. An exception
is made for provision for strangers, travellers, clerics, and the needy, but only as long as
the church suffered no capital loss.

125 The solidus was the standard gold coin of the Byzantine empire. Solidi were not struck
by the Visigoths so the reference here is to a notional sum of money. The standard
Visigothic coin was the tremiss , a gold coin worth one third of a solidus. The standard
work on Visigothic coinage is Miles [1952], see also in Spanish M-.I & R Chaves [1984].
Leovigild was the first king to break with the single currency of the Byzantines; prior to
this Visigothic kings had only issued imitation Byzantine pieces.

Leovigild’s act of national self-assertion is rightly described as an epoch in the history
of the coinage of Western Europe’ by Miles [1952] ix. Over 80 Visigothic mints are
known, though four, Merida, Toledo, Seville, and Cordoba, account for 60% of the coins
found. The nature of the coins is highly controversial. For two articles arguing that they
both circulated widely and were commonly used for financial transactions see Metcalf
[1986] and [1988]. Until recently only gold Visigothic coinage had been found, but there
is now evidence for the striking of copper coin, Crusafont 1 Sabater [1988]. An idea of
the value of the solidus can be gained from the Visigothic Lawcode which assumes that
a child’s maintenance costs one solidus a year (LV 4.4.3).

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

that if anyone came oppressed by want, after drafting a notice, he might
draw as much as he wanted from this sum without any delay or
difficulty in order to deal with his troubles. 126 10 Nor do I think I
should be silent about how generous he was in giving gifts. For he was
as generous with his own possessions as he was careful of those of
others and excelled in the magnanimous virtue of giving rather than in
receiving. 11 For he was more eager to give away his wealth than to
seek more, and had learnt that it is a greater good fortune to give than
to receive. 127 He gave away much and took nothing away himself, but
willingly granted everyone’s request. He gave many gifts, more
endowments, enriched all through the munificence of his gifts and by
that munificence was held to be a great man. 128 All had their possessions
increased by his gifts and were enriched by his generosity. He gave gifts
which were too large to be believed not only to his brethren and friends,
but even to the church slaves. 129 12 Indeed, in his day they were so
wealthy that on the most holy day of Easter he set out for the church
surrounded by many boys wearing silk cloaks as if they were in
attendance on a king, and wearing this apparel, something that in those
days no one had been able or presumed to do, they went before him and
paid him due homage. 130 13 The Almighty Lord showered many great
gifts on this deserving man whose heart never became swollen or puffed
in the midst of such great opulence and grandeur of his transitory

126 Masona’s fund appears to be a continuation of the policy of his predecessor, see VPE
4.10.2. As usury was forbidden, we should assume that these loans were interest free. The
fund would have posed a strong threat to local secular nobles to whom the poor would
have been forced to turn for loans with interest prior to its creation. No doubt its primary
purpose was that of relief; however it would also have had the effect of establishing the
church as a rival to secular patronage.

127 cf Acts 20.35.

128 Again, this would have made Masona a rival to secular patrons.

129 Ownership of slaves by the Visigothic Church was widespread. Merida 18 (AD 666)
requires parish priests to make suitable slaves curates and the tomus of 16 Toledo (AD
693) describes any church with only 10 slaves as ‘very poor’. For a clerical justification
of slavery see Isidore, Sententiae 3.47.1-3. See Claude [1980] for a modern commentary
on ecclesiastical slaves and freedmen.

130 The hagiographer seems here to assert that the church has almost taken the place of
the King in terms of splendour. It is significant in this respect that we are told by Isidore
that the king of the day, Leovigild, had also increased the splendour of his appearance
being the first Visigothic monarch to employ royal robes and a throne (HG 51). The new
silk vestments suggest continuing trade with the Greek East; see Isidore, Etymologiae
19.22.14.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

wealth. 14 His most humble soul was built upon the solidest of rocks, 131
was of unstained conscience, of honest thought which knows nothing of
trickery, and while meek in times of prosperity, showed itself of great
strength in adversity. Nor did it become arrogant in prosperity, but
neither loss nor increase changed his constancy. 15 For he was steadfast
in all things and well prepared for any circumstance. A man of
endurance and great physical strength, he persevered: constant in every
adversity and unperturbed in times of trouble. He never changed his
countenance through joy or sorrow, but his ever cheerful face did not
change whatever his circumstances. 16 Nor did pride which is the
enemy of every virtue carry him off, 132 but he preserved a sincere
humility in everything through the sincere and holy nature of his heart.

1 When through divine favour he grew strong in these virtues, 133 his
fame, as reports grew, spread news of his goodness abroad and brought
to light throughout the regions those works of light which had been
given to him by the true light. 134 2 Whence it came to pass that through
his reputation his deeds came to the notice of Leovigild, the savage,
cruel king of the Visigoths. Then vile serpent of his envy, always
envious of good works, 135 pricked him with its sharp goads, struck at the
heart of the prince with its viper’s venom and poured its poisoned
chalice into his innermost soul. 136 3 At once having drunk of this deadly
cup, armed with a diabolical scheme and driven on by his envy, he sent
messengers back and forth time and again to the holy man Masona and
commanded him to abandon the Catholic faith and turn to the Arian
heresy along with all the people in his charge. 137 4 But he, dedicated to

131 cf Matthew 7.25.

152 cf VSD 2.

133 cf VSD 2.

134 cf VSD 2.

135 A conflation of Christian vice with the hallmarks of a typical classical tyrant.

136 This hostility of the hagiographer here contrasts sharply with the neutral account of
Leovigild in section 3. The account is taken from VSD 4.

137 Leovigild was determined to establish a single religious confession as the state religion
of a unified and unitary kingdom. Hence his concern here is not just with the Goth
Masona as an 'apostate’ from Gothic Arianism, as has sometimes been asserted (e.g.
GOrres [1873]), but with the conversion of the entire Catholic population of Merida. In

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

God as he was, made a steadfast response, sending back to the king his
messengers twice, nay, three times telling him that he would never
abandon the true faith which he had needed to learn but once. Moreover
he rebuked the Arian king as was his duty and repudiated his heresy
with telling proofs. 5 When the messengers returned to him, Leovigild
began to work on his soul with various temptations, in the hope that
perhaps in somewise he might bend him to the pleasures of his
superstition. 6 Masona, however, spumed these many cunning
temptations, cast out his gifts and prizes as if they were so much filth, 138
and manfully defended the Catholic faith. Nor did he choose to keep
silent about the heresy lest he should seem to give assent by his silence,
but striving against the king’s madness with all his might, he sounded
out the trumpet blast of truth. 139 7 When the King saw himself failing
and his labour brought to nought, seized by fury, he began to use terror
against him, thinking that he would be able to strike down with his
threats a man whom he had been unable to overcome with his
blandishments. 8 But the holy man was neither broken by his threats nor
persuaded by his blandishments, but striving in fierce fight against the
vile tyrant persisted unvanquished in his defence of truth. 140

1 When that most cruel tyrant learnt that he could not either by threats
or gifts make the soul of the man of God apostatise from the true faith
to his heresy, as he was wholly a vessel of wrath, a fomenter of vice,
and the fruit of damnation, the Enemy possessed his breast the more
fiercely and the cunning Serpent held him captive in his sway so that he
brought to his people bitterness not joy, brutality instead of gentleness

fact the form of Christianity preferred by Leovigild was a form of Macedonianism rather
than Arianism proper, for a discussion of the king’s religious policy see the introduction
to this volume.

138 cf l Corinthians 4.13.

139 cf VSD 15. Biblical parallels can be found at Isaiah 18.3, 58.1 and with the seven
angels of Revelation 8.

140 Leovigild’s treatment of Masona falls into a traditional pattern of martyr acts:
inveiglement is followed by violence - see the analysis by Maya [1994].

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

and in place of health salves that brought death. 141 2 In order to stir up
sedition and cause trouble for the holy man and all his people, he
appointed a bishop of the Arian faction called Sunna in the city of
Merida, a bringer of death who supported the Arian heresy in all its
parts. 142 3 A thorough supporter of this perverse doctrine he was an ill-
omened man, vile to look upon with a troubled brow, brutal eyes,
hateful in appearance, and horrible in his movements. 143 He possessed
an evil mind, was depraved in his habits, had a lying tongue, was foul-
mouthed, swollen without yet empty within, outwardly grandiose yet
inwardly spiritless, 144 seen from the outside he was puffed up yet inside
he had been purged of every virtue, deformed both without and within,
he was wanting in goodness but rich in vice, guilty of crime and
doomed of his own free will to eternal death. 145 4 When this deviser of
perfidy came to the city of Merida, he took for himself on the order of
the king certain basilicas with all their privileges, rashly snatching them
from their rightful bishop. 146 5 Bound all the tighter in the death¬
bringing Bandit’s chains and stricken with his fatal poison, he began to
bark out rabid sermons against the servant of God and spew forth filthy
language mingling it with raucous threats. 147 6 But this hangman’s
threats did not break the loyal servant of God nor did the turbulent
wrath of this noxious man weaken him, nor the rage of this raving

141 This passage is almost entirely taken from VSD 15. The hagiographer is attempting to
show that Leovigild was not a true king according to the standards of his day: see the
words of Leovigild’s son and successor, Reccared, that ‘Almighty God has granted us to
reach the height of kingship for the well-being of our peoples’, 3 Toledo tomus. Similar
sentiments were expressed by Isidore, Sententiae 3.49.3 For a general discussion of
Visigothic ideology on kingship see King [1972] ch.2.

142 It seems inconceivable that an Arian See did not already exist in Merida prior to this
appointment. If, as is likely, this passage refers to the aftermath of Hermenegild’s
rebellion, Leovigild was probably re-establishing an Arian ecclesiastical structure in the
town after its destruction by Hermenegild and his followers. If Merida was a centre of
Orthodox sentiment - see the introduction to this volume - and had been a centre of
support for Hermenegild, winning it over would have been crucial to Leovigild’s plan to
create a unitary religion in his kingdom. Sunna’s convictions were as strong as those of
Masona’s as can be seen from his refusal to convert to Trinitarianism when Reccared
came to the throne.

143 Hence like Masona, his exterior appearance mirrors his internal worth.

144 cf Matthew 23.27-28 on the Scribes and Pharisees.

145 This description of Sunna is taken mutatis mutandis from that of Theuderic and
Brunhilda’s men at VSD 18.

146 Alternatively this passage may reflect in Orthodox terms the repossession of Arian
churches handed over to the Orthodox by Hermenegild in his rebellion.

147 taken from VSD 15.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

damned soul turn him from his purpose, but like a stout wall he
remained steadfast in his defence of the holy faith against all storms. 148
7 When this infidel had tried with all his might to trouble the servant
of God and all the faithful by his cunning devices and had failed,
relying on royal favour he continually tried to seize the basilica of the
most holy Eulalia, so that having snatched it from its rightful bishop he
might dedicate it to the Arian heresy. 149 8 The holy bishop Masona and
all the people with him resisted and fought vigorously against him, so
the false bishop 150 Sunna wrote a long indictment against the holy man
to Leovigild and suggested to him that the holy basilica which he
longed to enter be taken from the possession of the Catholics and put
under his own control by royal decree. 9 In response to this the
following judgement was made: judges were to sit in the episcopal
palace and both bishops be summoned and appear before them. Then
they were to engage in debate in judges’ presence, each setting forth in
turn a defence of their position. 151 And so debating one after the other,
they were to construct or adduce support for their case from the books
of Holy Scripture, wherever there these things might be written and
whichever side won the prize of victory, they too would win for
themselves the church of St Eulalia. 10 When this decree, as the rumour
grew, came to the hearing of the gentle Masona, straightaway he hurried
to the basilica of the holy virgin Eulalia, and for three days and as many

148 taken from VSD 15.

149 See above. The strength of the Cult of Eulalia was such that control of her shrine
would have been a key factor in winning the dispute between Orthodox and Arian.

150 ‘Pseudoepiscopus.’ This was a longstanding term of ecclesiastical abuse, Psuedo-
Priscillian (Tract 2 p.41 = PLS 2 1439) commented ‘There is no one who does not feel
hatred when he hears about psuedobishops and Manichees\ Similarly at 5.6.29 the
Orthodox collaborator with Leovigild, Nepopis, is called a false priest, ‘psuedosacerdos’.

151 Gregory of Tours records two rather bad tempered debates he had with Agila, an Arian
clergyman from Spain, HF 5.43, 6.40. Clearly the Arians thought they could argue their
case successfully. The tradition of such contests has its roots in scripture, see for example,
Elijah’s showdown with the priests of Ba’al on Mt Carmel, / Kings 18.16-45, and St
Stephen and St Paul’s expounding the faith to hostile audiences (Acts 7, 17, and 22). In
the more recent past St Augustine had engaged in public debate in the Baths of Sosius in
Hippo with the Manichee Fortunatus (in AD 392) and then in AD 404 in his own church
against another Manichee, Felix (Augustine, Retractationes 2.7-8 = PL 32 632-634)
emerging victorious on both occasions. Bishop Fulgentius of Ruspe held an inconclusive
debate with the Vandal King and Arian, Thrasimund, at Carthage in the early sixth
century. Some of Fulgentius’ anti-Arian writings have survived, notably his Reply to the
Arians and Against Thrasimund ’ King of the Vandals ; PL 65 205-304.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

nights 152 fasted and wept before the altar beneath which the venerable
body of the martyr lay, prostrating himself on the flags. 11 Finally on
the third day he returned to his palace which was built inside the city
walls, coming back with such mental sharpness and constancy that none
of the faithful doubted that He Who said: 1 Take no thought beforehand
what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given to you in that hour,
that speak ye, for it is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost'' 53 was
coming to help him. 12 When he came to the city, had entered the
palace and sat down, his expression took away the sorrow of all the
faithful by its cheerfulness and he told them to have no doubts about his
victory. 13 Then waiting for the cursed Arian bishop and the judges, he
tarried there a long time. Finally the Arian bishop together with the
judges and surrounded by a host of men made his entry swollen with
arrogant pride. 154 Then the bishops sat down, as did the judges who in
the main were supporters of the Arian sect and of the impious king. 14
When they were seated, the holy bishop Masona as he possessed the
utmost gravity and wisdom for a long time kept silent, looking intently
towards heaven. As he was silent, Sunna, the bishop of the heretics, rose
up to speak first and began to shriek disgraceful things, bawling out
jarring words, which were both scabrous and obscene. 15 When the man
of God patiently, calmly, and persuasively made his reply and set forth
the whole truth in outstanding fashion, Sunna, as if he had a serpent’s
mouth, hissed out even more disgraceful words and a great debate began
between them. 16 But in no wise could the forces of the flesh prevail
against the wisdom of God or the Holy Spirit who spoke through His
servant Masona. 17 What more is there to say? Defeated in every
argument, the vanquished heretic fell silent and blushed in his great
shame and the wicked judges who had supported him all in vain were
no more able to sustain their case than he: 18 not only did they blush
in their confusion, but on hearing the homily on the most glorious faith
which came from his mouth in honeyed words, they were astounded and
entirely at a loss and praised with great admiration the man whom
shortly before they had wanted to defeat. 19 For the Lord had deemed
it worthy to grant so much grace to his lips that day that no one had

152 cf Tobit 3.10-15.

153 Mark 13.11.

154 cf Gregory the Great, Dial. 3.1.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

ever heard him speak so clearly and eloquently before, and although he
always spoke well, that day he showed himself more eloquent than in
all days gone by. 20 Then the righteous saw what had happened and
rejoiced and all evil held its tongue for God had closed the mouths of
those preaching iniquity. 155 And all the faithful were greatly astonished
because although they had known beforehand that Masona was a most
eloquent man they could not remember when he had ever preached such
a learned discourse so elegantly and illuminatingly. 21 Then, their foes
laid low in defeat, all the Orthodox and Catholic people cried out in
praise, ‘Among the Gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither
are there any works like unto your works' 156 22 All of one accord they
went to the basilica of the glorious virgin Eulalia together with their
triumphant bishop Masona. Loudly exulting in their praise of God they
came and rejoicing with much shouting they entered his most holy
church and gave countless thanks to the almighty Lord who had exulted
His servants on high for the sake of the church of His holy virgin and
reduced His enemies to nothing.

1 However this heretic bishop Sunna, although he had been defeated in
all his arguments concerning the truth, obstinately persisted in his old
beliefs and was unable to hasten with willing steps to the gateway of
salvation. 157 For with God’s permission the Old Enemy had hardened his
heart to stone, as he had done to Pharoah’s. 158 2 After the confrontation,
on seeing himself utterly defeated he began in his madness to fabricate
ever more accusations against the servant of God, adding to them
cunningly devised falsehoods. And armed with every kind of weapon he
set out to fight the stronger against the soldier of Christ, 159 secretly
accusing that most blessed man, bishop Masona, of many crimes to the

155 cf Psalm 107.42.

156 Psalm 86.8, cf Psalm 71.19.

157 taken from VSD 15.

158 cf Exodus 4.21. However here it is God, not the devil who hardens Pharoah’s heart.
God’s use of the devil is reminiscent of the book of Job. The notion of the devil as God’s
exactor was current when VPE was written, see Gregory the Great, HEv 2.39.5, Mor
4.35.69. See also Revelation 22.11 where evil-doers are to persist in evil-doing.

159 cf VSD 4.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

Arian king, Leovigild. 3 But the cunning of the Enemy availed for
nothing, his dreadful wickedness did no harm to the man of God whom
the grace of the Redeemer armed with weapons of the spirit. 160 4 Finally
the evil spirit compelled the oft-mentioned King of the Arians to
remove the holy man from his see and bring him into his presence. His
ministers sharing in his crime swiftly obeyed his command 161 and
coming to Merida forced the blessed man to travel in all haste to the
city of Toledo where the king held court. 162 5 When the most holy
bishop Masona was suddenly snatched away and carried off from the
bosom of his holy church, and, though innocent, taken into exile like a
condemned man, the voice of all the citizens of Merida cried out
moaning in unbearable grief, lamenting with great groaning and wailing
that the aid of so goodly a shepherd was being taken from them and
shouting out at the top of their voices, 6 ‘Why are you abandoning your
sheep, good shepherd? Why are you leaving your flock to perish? Do
not, we beg of you, entrust us to the jaws of wolves, lest your sheep fed
until now on flowers and nectar, without their bishop to take care of
them should be ripped apart by ravening wolves.’ 163 7 Moved by so
much grief and ever full in his innermost soul of piety in the Lord, he
is said to have broken out weeping. 164 Then addressing them at great
length, he took time to console them with his profound arguments. 65 8
After this, bidding them all farewell, he set off with God to guide him
in his customary manner: with a calm mind, a constant soul, and a
cheerful face. 9 When he came to the city of Toledo and stood in the
presence of the vile tyrant, the king provoking him with all manner of
insults and pressing him with many threats, strove with all the force of
his depraved plan to drag him into the Arian heresy. 10 But when the
man of God had willing put up with all the insults directed at him and
bore everything with equanimity, he began to answer without delay but

16(1 cf Sword of the Spirit, 2 Corinthians 10.4 and Ephesians 6.13tT.

161 taken from VSD 15.

162 Relatively unimportant in Roman times, the town was established by Leovigild as the
permanent capital of his kingdom.

163 Taken from VSD 17.

164 cf Sulpicius Severus Ep. 3.11. The strength of Masona’s emotion is underlined by the
fact that we have been previously told that he always kept a cheerful appearance in
adversity, 5.3.15.

165 In VSD 17 Desiderius does indeed argue with his flock, here the arguments and the
threat of violence by the crowd towards the bishop’s captors are omitted.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

with all gentleness, the things that the rabid dog snarled at him, and,
while paying no heed to the insults directed at himself, aggrieved at the
injury done to the Catholic faith, boldly resisted the tyrant. 11 The mad
king was tormented more and more by his constancy and so redoubled
the rabid yelpings of his foaming mouth against the servant of God. 12
He began to threaten him in terrible ways to hand over the tunic of the
most holy virgin Eulalia in order that he might hang it in the basilica
dedicated to Arian depravity there in Toledo. 166 13 To this the man of
God replied, ‘Know that I shall never soil my heart with the filth of
Arian superstition, that I shall never befuddle my wits with its perverted
dogma, and that I shall never hand over the tunic of my lady Eulalia to
be polluted by the hands or even the finger tips of heretics. You shall
never have it however long you try.’ 14 On hearing this, the profane
tyrant flew into a rage of madness and in all haste swiftly sent to the
city of Merida, instructing his men to look diligently everywhere for the
holy tunic, and search with care both the treasury of the church of
Eulalia and that of the senior church which is called Holy Jerusalem
until they should find it and bring it to him. 15 When they arrived
there, they searched with diligence everywhere, but did not find it and
so returned empty-handed to their king. When they told him of their
failure, the devil gnashing his teeth raged all the more fiercely against
the man of God. 16 When Masona was brought into his presence,
Leovigild said to him, ‘Tell me where the thing which I seeks lies, and
know that if you do not speak, you shall be severely tortured and then
exiled to a far-away place, where afflicted with many tribulations and
suffering a lack of every necessity you shall die a cruel death.’ 17 To
this the man of the Lord is said to have replied as follows: ‘Do you
threaten me with exile?’ Know that 1 do not fear your threats and am
in no way troubled by the prospect of exile and so I beg you that if you

166 Possibly the Church of Sta Marfa. This is recorded as being rededicated to Catholicism
in AD 587 under Reccared, ICERV 302. The cult of relics was extremely powerful in this
period. Gregory of Tours ascribed the conversion of the Sueves to Catholicism to the
arrival of relics of St Martin of Tours in their territory (De Virtutibus Sancti Martini 1.11)
and notes that a Frankish army lifted the siege of Saragossa when its defenders paraded
the tunic of St Vincent from the battlements (HF 3.29).

Braulio of Saragossa received a letter from the priest lactatus specifically asking him
to supply him with martyrs’ relics ( Ep. 9) for his church. Braulio declined the request.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

know any land where God is not present, command that I be exiled
there.’ The king replied, ‘And where is God not present, living
corpse?’ 167 To which the man of God responded, ‘If you already see that
God is everywhere, why do you threaten me with exile? For wherever
you send me, I know that the piety of the Lord will not abandon me.
This too I know full well, that the more you cruelly rave against me, the
more will His mercy follow me and His clemency bring me comfort. 158
19 Because of Masona’s constancy the mad tyrant was inwardly stricken
with a great seizure of his wicked mind and moved by gall and great
bitterness said to him, ‘Either give me the tunic which you have
deceitfully stolen or, if you do not, I shall have your limbs torn apart
by diverse tortures.’ 20 The soldier of God fearlessly replied, ‘I have
already told you time and again that I do not fear your threats. Let your
twisted mind devise yet more threats against me to the limits of its
ability. I shall not fear you nor overcome by fright give you what you
seek. Know this, that I have burnt the tunic, ground it to ashes, and
mixing its ashes with water have drunk them down.’ 21 And rubbing his
stomach with his hands he said, ‘Let it be known to all that I reduced
it to ashes and drank it and, lo, here it is within my belly, I shall never
give it to you.’ He spoke thus because unknown to all he had folded it
up and was wearing it round his stomach beneath his clothes wrapped
in linen clothes and so he wore it, as God alone knew. But God so
blinded the eyes of the king and all his court that no one discovered the
man of God’s ploy. 22 While these and similar exchanges were going
on, the heavens were completely clear, then suddenly the Divine
Majesty thundered on high, letting forth a great crash so that king
Leovigild leapt trembling from his throne to the ground in terror. 169
Then the man of God stoutly said with great exultation ‘If we are to
fear a king, behold the king we ought to fear who is not as you are.’ 23
Then the Evil Spirit opened the sacrilegious mouth of the tyrant ever
armed as it was with abuse, with these vile words and at once he barked
out the infamous sentence devised by his impiety. ‘Masona, ever

167 Isidore, Etymologiae 10.31, in an astounding misreading of Greek, glosses this word
(biothanatos) as ‘twice dead’, ‘bis mortuus’.

168 cf Psalm 23.6.

169 cf I Samuel 7.10 (where the Philistines are terrified by thunder as Samuel sacrifices
to God).

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

opposed to our way of life, enemy of our faith, and opponent of
religion, we order you to be taken swiftly from our sight and sent into
exile’. 170 24 When the evil, impious king had pronounced this wicked
sentence on an innocent man, 171 his ministers who shared in his crime
instantly took him from his sight and on the king’s instructions got
ready to mount him on an unbroken horse, in order that it might throw
him and so falling and breaking his neck he should suffer a cruel death.
Indeed this horse was so wild that no rider dared to mount it for it had
already flung many men headlong. 25 As it was prepared for the man
of God to mount it, the cruel King looked out from the palace window
above, hoping that the man of God would fall from the horse and
provide him with a great spectacle. 172 26 But the holy priest making the
sign of the cross in the Lord’s name, mounted the wild horse which
God made as tame as the gentlest lamb for him. Then the creature
which but shortly before with great snorting, whinnying, and continually
bucking with all its body had refused to carry another as if it despised
its would-be riders, set off to take him on his way with the utmost
gentleness and care. 173 27 All who saw this miracle were astounded and
greatly amazed, even the king was moved to great admiration. But what
help could the glorious radiance of the sun be to a blind man whose
heart the savage Enemy had completely darkened? 174 28 Therefore
Masona, the holy bishop of God, accompanied merely by three of his
serving boys, came to the place assigned to him along with the men
who were to punish him and had been sent by the king to place him in
exile in a monastery. His exile took him to sublime heights, the insult
dealt him produced outstanding sanctity, his journey great happiness. 175
29 After this a false priest called Nepopis was set up in his place and

170 Taken from VSD 16.

171 taken from VSD 4.

172 There is a slight parallel with Gregory the Great, Dial. 3.11 where Totila baits a
bishop with a bear to no avail.

173 There is a strong resemblance to Alexander’s first encounter with Bucephalus here.
The story would have been known to the hagiographer’s audience from Solinus
Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium 45 and Aulus Gellius, NA 5.2. The comparison links
to Christian stories of holy men taming wild beasts, leading back as far as the Old
Testament account of Daniel in the Lion’s Den (Daniel 6.12-22) and also carries
overtones of Masona as a soldier for Christ through its allusion to Alexander.

174 cf Pharoah’s reaction to the plagues in Egypt and Revelation 22.11. This attitude
may have been a later Visigothic topos about Leovigild, cf Isidore, HG 49.

175 Taken from VSD 4.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

made the man of God’s replacement in the city of Merida. He was a
profane man, a true servant of the Devil, an angel of Satan, a harbinger
of the Antichrist, and a bishop of another town. 176 And just as the man
of God flourished with his many virtues, so this man in contrast
besmirched himself with his vile deeds. 177

1 In these three years or more of exile the blessed Masona led his
blessed life and showed himself an outstanding man there through his
many virtues. Every necessity which he succeeded in obtaining for his
and his servants’ use he gave to the poor. 2 When there was almost
nothing left for him to give, a certain poor widow afflicted by many
troubles came to him asking for alms. 3 The man of God, who had
given away everything in works of this sort, searched diligently for
something to give her and when he found nothing asked the servants
who were with him if any of them had something that they could in
good faith give to him to present to the woman. 4 One of them called
Sagatus, who was in charge of the others, said, T have a single solidus ,
but if I give you this we will have nothing at all with which to buy food
for ourselves and our mule.’ 5 The man of God told him to hand all of
it over without hesitation and keep nothing back for himself and to have
no doubt that the Lord would be with him and see to his every need. 6
But, though chastened by his command he had given the solidus to the
woman, a little later this Sagatus ran after the woman and begged her
as he had nothing with which to buy food for himself to give back at
least a tremiss of the sum which she had received that he might see to
his own needs. She gave him one tremiss without any sadness and took

176 Nepopis must have been an Orthodox believer. The phrase appears to be an ascending
tricolon emphasising the insult dealt to Merida. The comment that Nepopis was a bishop
of another town suggests that Merida lost its status as an episcopal see at this time (see,
however, 4 Toledo 34 (AD 633) which allows a bishop to keep possession of another
diocese if he has held it for over 30 years and it is in the same province). Nepopis’ rank,
possible seniority, and collaboration with Leovigild indicates that the king’s religious
policy was not completely opposed by the Orthodox in Spain. His name is Egyptian in
origin and it is possible that he was a refugee from the Byzantine Empire, his flight
perhaps being provoked by the controversy over the Three Chapters, see n.50 above.

177 taken from VSD 4.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

the other two off with her, glad at heart. 7 Then, lo, all of a sudden,
two hundred loaded asses carrying a variety of foods which some men
of the Catholic faith had sent to Masona were found standing by the
monastery gates. When this was announced to the man of God and those
who had come had made their gift, giving great thanks to the almighty
Lord straightaway he ordered that Sagatus be summoned. When he
came, the man of the Lord said to him, ‘How much did you give to
woman who asked for alms?’ and he replied, ‘I gave her the whole
solidus that I had as you commanded, but as necessity pressed on us,
afterwards 1 took a single tremiss back from her’. Then the man of God
said, ‘May the Lord forgive you brother, for you have shown yourself
weak in faith and despaired of the mercy of the Lord and worse you
have sinned against the many poor folk. You gave two tremisses and,
behold, you have obtained two thousand solidi and two hundred asses
loaded with many foodstuffs. I have no doubt that had you not taken
that third tremiss you would have received three hundred loaded asses.’
10 Thanking them and giving his blessing in return for the blessing that
they had brought him, he strengthened all who asked him with blessed
homilies and epistles. Then straightaway he gave almost all that he had
been given to the poor.

1 Some days later when he had gone into the church of the monastery
to pray, the most holy virgin Eulalia suddenly appeared above the altar
of that holy basilica in the form of a snow white dove 178 and addressing
him gently like a caring mistress, saw fit to console her faithful servant.
Then she said to him, ‘Behold it is time for you to return to your city
and resume your former service to me.’ And when she had said this she
swiftly flew from his sight. 2 The man of God exulted that he had been
granted so great a vision and consolation yet began to weep deeply
because he was to lose the tranquillity of his poverty and exile and be
returned to the storms and tempests of the world. 179 For he had no doubt
that what he had heard would swiftly come to pass. 3 Then, without any

178 This is the form in which Eulalia's soul ascended to heaven in Prudentius,
Peristephanon Martyrorum 3.161-165.

179 For this topos see VSA 12.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

delay, this glorious virgin wrought retribution with stern vengeance for
the wrongs done to her servant. One night she stood by the impious
tyrant Leovigild as he lay on his bed and scourging him at length on
both flanks said, ‘Restore my servant to me. And know that if you
delay, I shall put you to death in ways worse than this.’ 4 The wretch
was so fiercely flogged that he woke and with much weeping showed
his weals to all his attendants, crying out that he had been scourged
because he had done harm to the holy bishop. For he revealed who had
whipped him, her name, her dress, and her beautiful countenance,
making everything clear and all the while letting forth great wails of
grief. 5 Then, fearing lest he suffer more from the judgement of God,
as he was ever a schemer in all his affairs and a deviser of falsehoods,
feigning piety he ordered that the man of God who had been taken from
his town in vain, should return to rule over his church once again. 180 6
When the most holy Masona in no way assented to the mad king’s
request and said that he would remain where he had been exiled, he
besought him time and again to deign to return to his city. Finally the
piety of God most high softened his sincere heart and through its
abundant benevolence opened the way for his servant. 7 When he with
God’s help returned, the cruel king tried by his entreaties and gifts to
win the favour of a man he had just before condemned by false
judgement to exile. He spumed his favours, rejected his gifts, but with
a forgiving spirit pardoned the crime he had perpetrated and in
accordance with the will of God was not mindful of the trespasses of
those who had trespassed against him but forgave them. 181 8 Then
accompanied by an enormous retinue he returned from his place of exile
to the city of Merida. 1 !<2 When his replacement Nepopis heard of his
return, petrified by divinely-inspired terror he prepared in haste to flee
to the city where he had previously been bishop. 9 But before he left,
he criminally despatched to his own city by night and in secret in an
enormous number of wagons using men of the Meridan church a great
amount of silver, ornaments, and anything else he saw of beauty in the
churches in Merida. 10 Then Nepopis driven in disgrace from Merida

180 Taken from VSD 10.

181 cf Matthew 6.12. Virtually all of sections 5-7 are taken from VSD 10.

182 A parallel with the adventus processions of triumphant kings is probably intended here.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

by all its clergy and people, 183 hurried towards his own city and made
haste to leave lest the man of God, Masona, should find him in his
church and drive him out in the greatest ignominy. 11 And so he fled,
leaving the city in disgrace with a few helpers who all belonged to his
household and followed behind him. 184 Then scattered, at a loss, and
wandering all over the countryside, they made for their own city. 12
While this was happening, it came about through the will of God and
the merits of St Eulalia that on this day holy Masona was returning to
the city of Merida with a great host on the self-same road along which
the wagons loaded with his goods were hastening away. 13 When he
met them on the way not far from the city, the holy man asked to be
told to whom all these wagons belonged. And they recognising their
true Lord were filled with great joy and replied, ‘We are your servants,
Lord.’ Then he asked them once more what they were carrying in their
wagons and they replied, ‘Holy things which belong to St Eulalia and
yourself and which our enemy, the bandit Nepopis, has stolen. We
wretches are going into captivity separated from our goods, our sons,
and our wives, driven out from the country in which we were born’. 15
When the man of God heard this, he was filled with great joy and said,
‘I thank you, good Lord Jesus, because the plenitude of your kindness
is so great 185 that you deem it worthy to take such great care of your
servants in all things, unworthy though they are, so that now you have
restored us, freeing us from all evil and do not hand over your goods
into the power of your enemy.’ 16 And on saying this, he ordered that
they all be taken back to their own city and so he came to the city with
all rejoicing in great joy. 17 Just as a thirsty man in the heat of a fire
longs for springs of water, 186 so he because of his ardent soul and
burning spirit earned the right to come with God’s aid to the basilica of
St Eulalia. There when he had with his whole heart sated his desire, he
entered the city exulting in the Lord and with all his people rejoicing.
18 And so the church of Merida exulted and received back its helmsman
with utmost joy. For they rejoiced that the sick had found a cure, the

183 cf VSD 11.

184 The hagiographer is anxious to assert that Nepopis enjoyed no support among the
citizens of Merida, hence his labouring the point that those who went willingly with
Nepopis were members of his household. It is possible that he protests too much.

185 cf Psalm 31.19.

186 cf Psalm 42.1, a text used in the baptism service at this period, see Puech [1949].

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

oppressed a consolation, and that the needy would not lack food 19
What more is there to say? Many blessings were restored by the Lord
to the church at Merida and the presence of the holy man bringing
God’s mercy put an end to the disastrous famines, the frequent plagues,
and the cruel storms which had swept the whole city and had
indubitably been caused by the absence of their exiled pastor. 187

1 Now Leovigild, who hindered rather than helped the land of Spain
and was its destroyer rather than its ruler, for whom there was no crime
or evil deed that he could not justly claim his own, 188 abandoning God
altogether, nay being abandoned by God, wretch that he was, he lost at
one and the same time both his kingdom and his life. 189 2 Through the
judgement of God he was seized by a fatal disease, lost his vile life and
obtained eternal death for himself. His soul cruelly wrenched from his
body, subject to perpetual torments and eternally enslaved in the depths
of hell, is rightly bound down there to bum for ever amongst the ever-
rolling waves of pitch. 190 3 After his most horrible death, that venerable
man prince Reccared, his son, came, as is the law, to administer the
kingdom and by his merits was deservedly elevated to the heights of
sovereignty. 191 Through his great virtues he reached the monarch’s post
with God’s aid by the solemn due process of law. 192 4 Above all he was

187 Sections 18-19 are taken from VSD 11.

188 Taken from VSD 15.

189 Leovigild died in AD 586. The attack on him once again concentrates on showing he
was a bad king by the standards of the day. This savage account of the king contrasts
sharply with that of Gregory the Great, which would have been known to the author.
According to Gregory, Leovigild in the end saw the truth of the Catholic faith and was
converted (Dial. 3.31). This version was also known to Gregory of Tours, who is inclined
however to doubt its veracity (HF 8.46). The hostility shown by the hagiographer runs
contrary with to the general quiet pride taken in Leovigild’s achievements by Orthodox
Spaniards, see, for example, John of Biclarum’s account of his reign.

190 cf VSD 21 where this is the fate of Brunhilda.

191 Cf the account of Reccared given by Gregory the Great (Dial. 3 .31). The parallelism
with VSD would also be apparent to VPE’s readers here as the rule of Theuderic and
Brunhilda was replaced by that of the highly-regarded Chlotar II.

192 Garvin [1946] 485 is inclined to think that this insistence on legality indicates that
Reccared was elected king. Be this as it may, the purpose here is to emphasise the
illegality of the rebellion described in following sections. Again the reader might wonder
whether our author protests too much.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

an Orthodox believer, a Catholic in all things unlike his treacherous
father, and, following Christ the Lord, 193 turned from the depravity of
the Arian heresy and through his wondrous guidance brought the entire
nation of the Visigoths to the true faith. 194 5 For he was champion of
our divine religion, a herald of true glory, in all things a defender of the
Catholic faith, preaching the coetemal Holy Trinity of one virtue and
substance, distinguishing its proper persons, affirming that its nature was
that of one God, declaring that there was the unbegotten Father, adding
to him the Son begotten of the Father and believing that the Holy Spirit
proceeded from both alike. 195 6 Adorned with these virtues, he came to
love all who loved God and utterly loathe and curse all whom he knew
were hateful to God and so condemned the errors of the heretics’ gross
impiety. 7 While this policy was carried out with a will and through

193 Here the hagiographer, while closely following Gregory the Great's account of these
events {Dial. 3.31), has substituted ‘Christ the Lord’ for Gregory s ‘Martyred Brother’.
This is a reference to Hermenegild, Reccared’s half-brother and leader of an unsuccessful
rebellion (AD 579-584) against Leovigild which took on, if it did not have from the
beginning, religious overtones. Horror of rebellion against lawful authority was common
in Visigothic writers and here while our hagiographer is happy to attack Leovigild as a
bad king, he is not prepared to exalt a rebel against regal authority. Significantly Gregory
of Tours, despite his intense dislike of the Goths, is equally hostile to regarding
Hermenegild as a martyr for the true faith, and simply sees him as a rebel against duly
constituted authority (HF 6.43). Some unconvincing attempts were made in the early
twentieth century to deny that he was technically in rebellion against his father, see
Guillermo Antolfn [1901] and Rochel [1903]. Reccared’s view of the matter is unclear.
However we are told that Sisebert, the assassin of Hermenegild, who was killed while in
exile at Tarragona in AD 585 (John of Biclarum, Chron. 74; (see Rochel [1902] for a
weak argument that Hermenegild was in fact murdered in Seville), died a ‘most shameful
death’ two years after carrying out his act (John of Biclarum, ChronM , AD 587) which
may suggest that Reccared made some attempt to rehabilitate his half-brother’s reputation.
Valerius of El Bierzo, De vana saeculi sapientia 6 (= PL 87 426D) lists Hermenegild as
a royal saint. Nevertheless it was only in AD 1586 that Pope Sixtus V gave formal
backing to a cult of Hermenegild, his feast day being established as 13th April.
Hermenegild enjoyed great veneration from Philip II of Spain; see Manuel de Estal
[1961]; and the counter reformation painter Juan de las Roelas painted a heroised version
of his death which hangs in the Cardinal’s Hospital in Seville. For a modern discussion
of the rebellion and its problems see Hillgarth [1985].

194 Reccared I ruled from AD 586-601. According to John of Biclarum he became a
personal convert to Catholicism within a year of assuming the throne. In AD 589 he called
3 Toledo at which Arianism was formally renounced and Catholicism adopted as the
religion of the Goths and hence all the population of the kingdom. Fredegar Chron. 4.8
tells us that Arian liturgical works were gathered together and burnt after the conversion.

195 This insistence on the dual procession of the Spirit which was to cause so much
trouble for Christendom may have been an innovation of the Visigothic Church. The
doctrine is found in the preamble of 3 Toledo of AD 589 {PL 84 343) and those who
refuse to accept it are duly anathematised (3rd anathema, PL 84 346). Isidore, HG 53 also
mentions the doctrine being adopted at this council. It is included in the description of the
true faith at 4 Toledo 1 (AD 633) = PL 84 365.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

God’s favour great peace was restored to the Catholic church and the
calamitous error of Arianism was driven from almost everybody’s mind
and after all its troubles had been ended, the city of Merida along with
its bishop, holy Masona, rejoiced in the grace of such great peace,
giving thanks to the Lord without ceasing, once again the Old Enemy
roused up anew as his accustomed envy broke forth afresh, brought
strife to the servants of God through his ministers.

1 Sunna, the Gothic bishop of whom we have made mention above,
goaded by the devil won over by a devilish plan certain noble Goths
who were most distinguished by birth and wealth, and not a few of
whom had been appointed Counts in various cities by the king. 2 He
separated these with a countless host of the common people from the
ranks of Catholics and the bosom of the Catholic church, devising
deceitful plans against the servant of God, bishop Masona - plans
designed to kill him. 196 3 Then he sent some serving boys to him and
feigning affection asked him to come to his house with them, with the
intention of doing to death there the man of God in the cruellest of
ways. When they came and made this suggestion, the blessed man, filled
with the Holy Spirit, divined their treachery and said without delay, ‘I
am in no wise able to go thither, for there is a matter concerning the
interests of the Catholic Church which I must see to. But if he wishes
to see me, let him come here to the bishop’s palace and see me on
whatever matter concerns him.’ 4 Then the envoys sent by Sunna
returned and announced what they had heard. When he heard this, he
straightaway summoned to his house the counts I have mentioned with
whom he intended to kill the holy man and told them to go together
with him to Masona’s house. 5 First, he arranged with them that when
they entered the palace, one of them named Witteric, who afterwards
was King of the Goths, should draw his sword and strike down the

196 John of Biclarum, Chron. 88, dates this conspiracy to AD 588. John’s account names
a secular ring-leader, Segga, as well as Sunna and the conspiracy is said to have been
directed against the King Reccared himself rather than just Masona as our hagiographer
implies.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

blessed man with a blow so violent that a second would not be
required. 197 6 When he had told Witteric of this plan, with one accord
and intent they all went to the holy bishop’s palace. When they arrived,
they wished to enter at once, but were stopped from doing so and told
to wait outside for a short time until the holy Masona sent for the
nobleman Claudius, the Duke of the city of Merida, so that they might
see each other face to face in his presence. 7 Claudius was of noble
birth and Roman stock, a strict Catholic, firmly bound to the tenants of
the faith, bold in battle, most devout in his fear of the Lord, learned in
the theories of warfare and in no way inexperienced in its practice. 198 8
When the news was brought to him, as his house was adjacent to the
palace, he soon hurried there with a great multitude of men. 199 9 When
the noble Claudius entered the palace, those 1 have mentioned above
also went in with great crowds of people and, after greeting the holy
man in the customary fashion, took their seats. 10 When they had been
seated for a long time debating with one another, Witteric, a strong
youth, stood behind the noble Duke Claudius’s shoulder, as if as a
young man he was paying an older man or his patron his due, 11 and
tried with all his might to draw his sword from its scabbard to hack
down both holy Masona and Claudius in accordance with what had been
planned. But through God’s will the sword stuck so fast in the scabbard
that he thought it had been fixed to it with nails of iron. 12 While he
tried at length to draw his sword, but was completely unable to do so,
the authors of this vile plot silently began to wonder why Witteric was
not carrying out what he had promised to do. Giving him sideways
glances they urged him on more and more to perpetrate this utterly
unholy, ghastly, impious deed at once and not to fear to slay these two
men with his sword. 13 In response to their wicked encouragements, he

197 King Witteric AD 603-610. Witteric became king after the assassination of Reccared’s
son Liuva II. A hostile summary of his reign is given by Isidore, HG 58.

198 For a general account of Claudius' life see Orlandis [1992] ch.5. Despite his rank of
Duke, Claudius was not a Goth but a Hispano-Roman. He led the Visigoths to a notable
victory over the Franks in AD 589 near Carcassonne; see note 220 below. He remained
an important force in the Kingdom, Gregory the Great (£/?. 9.230) asking him to chaperon
one of his envoys to Spain, the abbot Cyriacus.

199 Various suggestions have been made for Claudius’ house. The two most commonly
suggested are on the site of the Convent of San Francisco (the present day Parador) and
on that of the later Arabic fortress, the Alcazaba. However no firm evidence for an
identification exists at either site.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

tried again and again with all his might to draw his sword from its
scabbard, but to no avail. 200 When this happened to Witteric he realised
that his sword was stayed by the power of God so that he was no way
able draw the blade which had ever lain ready for his use, thereupon he
was terrified and grew pale. 14 But the authors of this great crime when
they saw that the machinations of their vile plan had been frustrated by
the judgement of God, immediately got up and making their farewells
returned bitterly to their homes.

1 When they left Witteric did not go with them, but, trembling, flung
himself at the feet of the most holy bishop Masona, revealed their entire
plan, and told with all sincerity how though he had wished to strike him
he had been unable to draw his sword. 2 Then weeping he said, T
confess my sin, I wished to carry out this evil deed, knowing full well
what I was doing, but God did not allow me to do it.’ adding, ‘They
have devised another plot against you so that if the plot failed in the
palace today they might succeed in their aims on Easter Day. This is
their scheme. When at Easter you have celebrated mass as usual in the
Senior Church and after the mass, as is the custom, go in procession
singing psalms with all the Catholic people to the basilica of Saint
Eulalia, 3 their men will be standing at the gates of the city cunningly
disguised as com merchants with many wagons loaded with swords and
staves. 201 Suddenly the whole mass of them will fall on you with drawn
swords and staves and cruelly slay everyone, men and women, old and
young alike. 4 I, a wretch that has implicated myself in this deed, seek
pardon from you, my most pious Lord, and beg that through your
prayers the Lord grant me mercy. All that I know I have carefully told

20(1 The word used here is spata. Femandis in Men6ndez Pidal [1940] argues that this term
shows the sword is a mark of rank. Although the existence of bodyguards named Spatarii
gives superficial plausibility to this argument, it falls on two counts. First, spata is not
used consistently in this context, Witteric’s sword is also referred to as a gladius and an
ensis\ hence the hagiographer is merely employing literary variatio here. Second, LV9.2.9
which deals with the number of slaves which nobles had to contribute to the army, states
that the majority of these slaves had to be armed with spatae, showing that no rank can
be intended by the use of the word.

201 Matthew 26.47, Luke 22.52 - these weapons are the ones carried by those who arrest
Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

and laid open to you. 5 Behold 1 am in your hand: do with me as
seemth good and meet unto you} 01 Lest by chance your holiness thinks
me a liar or deceiver, keep me in the palace and hold me under guard
as you see fit, until you have closely inquired into all I have said and
see it to be true. If you find things otherwise and that I am a liar, I shall
have no wish to live.’ 203 6 On hearing this, bishop Masona, a man of the
Lord who had always been marked by the virtue of piety, told him in
a kindly fashion not at all to be afraid, gave thanks to the Lord who had
freed his servants from such great perils, and then summoned Duke
Claudius and told him everything. 7 When he heard how things stood,
he advised that they should remain silent about the matter for a while
in order that the conspirators should not accidentally discover that their
plan was betrayed and flee. But then when he investigated the affair
closely, he found that what he had been told was clearly true. 8 When
these Arian counts tried to bring to fruition what they had previously
planned and came to meet the bishop in the customary fashion, a great
crowd was set around them in ambush and suddenly Duke Claudius fell
upon them. Some of them were taken prisoner, others who wished to
indulge in sword-play were killed on the spot. 204 9 Then Duke Claudius
went to the house of the Arian bishop, Sunna, with a great multitude of
men and took in the same way that heretical bishop, who knew nothing
of what had happened, and sent him to the holy bishop Masona to be
placed under close guard. 10 At the same time he gave over all Sunna’s
colleagues into Masona’s custody, but gave instructions that Witteric
who had brought to light the plans of these wicked men be set free. 11
Duke Claudius informed the Orthodox King Reccared of all these events
and advised him to decree sentence at once and tell him what he was to
do with these enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. 12 The King took his
advice and gave the following sentence: that they should all be deprived
of all their patrimony and honours, loaded with iron chains, and exiled;
that the false bishop Sunna be exhorted to convert to the Catholic faith,
and if he should convert, be told to do penance and weep for his sins
with a befitting number of tears so that when he had performed his

202 Jeremiah 26.14 - Words of Jeremiah to the princes and people of Judah.

203 Perhaps an official sanitation of Witteric’s participation in the conspiracy.

204 cf Matthew 26.52, Revelation 13.10. See also Isidore’s remarks on Witteric’s demise,

HG 58.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

penance and they knew him to be a good Catholic, they might ordain
him bishop in some other town. 205 13 But although they often told him
to do penance for his great sins and appease the fury of the Lord which
he had roused up by his evil deeds, he declined to do so and persisting
in his old tyrannical fashion replied, 206 ‘I have no knowledge of what
penance is, so know that I not understand what your penance is and that
I shall never be a Catholic, but shall either live by the rite which I have
lived by or most willingly die for that religion of which 1 am a member
and have been since my earliest days’. 14 When they saw the obstinacy
of his mind and that he persisted in his evil ways, they banished him
forthwith in ignominy and the greatest shame from the land of Spain
lest he should infect others with his pestilential disease. They set him
ignominiously in a small boat and threatened him that though he was
free to go to whatever place, people, or land he saw fit, if he was ever
found again in the land of Spain he would find himself given a heavier
sentence. 15 Then sailing to Mauretania he put in to shore and staying
there sometime he soiled many through the deceit of his wicked
beliefs. 207 Finally condemned by divine judgement he ended his life by
a horrible death. 16 Holy Masona, by decree of that most clement prince
Reccared, rightly recovered with all their privileges those basilicas
which he had unjustly lost and the entire patrimony of this heretic. 208 17
The rest of those wicked men we mentioned above were exiled in
accordance with the king’s decree. 209 One of them called Vagrila
escaped from their hands and fled to the basilica of St Eulalia to obtain
sanctuary. When that Claudius whom we have often mentioned already

205 A precedent for the problem of converted Arian clergy could be found in 1 Orleans
10 (AD 511) where bishops are allowed to appoint converted clergy of ‘good repute’ to
any function they wish. 2 Saragossa 1 (AD 592) = PL 84 317 states that Arians unless
they are ‘holy’ should be deposed; however the rest could be restored to the priesthood.
A similar procedure appears to be provided for in this passage.

206 i.e. Sunna refused to lay down his bishopric.

207 Collins [1989] 21 speaks of Sunna’s exile as ‘Arian missionary activity’ in Mauretania.
However the text implies that Sunna’s mission was in no way a voluntary act. Deportation
to Mauretania, at this time held by the Byzantines, may have been an attempt to stir up
trouble there in the wake of the Three Chapters controversy.

208 III Toledo 9 decreed that all Arian churches and their contents be handed over to the
Catholic church, see also Isidore HG 55. John of Biclarum, Chron. 87, states that
Reccared returned confiscated land to those persecuted by Leovigild.

209 According to John of Biclarum, Chron. 88, Segga had his hands cut off and was exiled
to Galicia.

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

reported this to Prince Reccared he is said to have remarked, 18 ‘I am
amazed at the effrontery with which an enemy of God most High has
presumed to enter His sacred halls and now flees in hope of finding
safety to Him Whom just now he in his madness attacked in vain. But
as we know God to have great mercy 210 and have no doubt that He
despises no one who turns to Him, not even a sinner, we decree as
follows: 19 that Vagrila along with his wife, children, and all his
patrimony should serve the most holy virgin Eulalia for ever. 211 And we
add this sanction to our decree, just as the lowliest serving boys are
accustomed to walk before the horse of their Lords riding on no beast
whatsoever, 212 so he shall walk before the horse of his master, the priest
in charge of the cells of St Eulalia, and putting aside his honour and
pride, carry out in all humility every servile task which the lowest slave
is wont to perform.’ 213 20 Therefore the holy Masona on receiving this
command at once summoned Vagrila to come from the basilica into his
presence and, as his innermost soul was always full of piety, told him
to be afraid no longer. But obeying the king’s orders, he ordered him
to comply with his command and come from the basilica of St Eulalia
to the palace which lies within the walls of the city walking before the
horse of deacon Redemptus. 21 When he had taken hold of the deacon’s
staff and holding it in his hands arrived at the palace, the holy man at
once absolved him from his punishment along with his wife, sons, and
all his goods and let him go free. 214 He laid this one condition on him:
that in all his doings he was to keep to the whole and complete Catholic
faith for the rest of his days.

210 cf Numbers 14.18.

211 i.e. that they become slaves owned by the church.

212 Or possibly ‘in no form of carriage’. The Latin vehiculum has both meanings in
Visigothic texts. However here ‘beast’ seems the more likely implying that Vagrila was
not even allowed to ride on a donkey.

213 cf VI Toledo 12 (AD 638) where it is decreed that traitors who flee to churches should
receive mercy tempered with justice. Vagrila’s fate, though grim, was much better than
Segga’s.

214 i.e. they became ffeedmen of the Church. As the church could not die they had no way
of escaping from this condition as had a ffeedman with a secular patron, see 4 Toledo 70
(AD 633). For a modem account of freedmen in the Visigothic Kingdom see Claude
[1980].

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

1 At this time the devil roused up a rebellion against the Catholic faith
in the famous city of Narbonne in the Gallic provinces. 215 It would take
too long to relate its causes here. If we wished to narrate these events
in order, it would seem that we were composing a tragedy rather than
a history, but let us briefly give a summary of a small part of what
happened. 2 Two counts, famed for their wealth and noble birth but
with profane minds and ignoble habits, namely Granista and Vildigem,
together with an Arian bishop called Athaloc 216 and many others who
shared their errors caused a serious disturbance in that district. 3 Rising
up against the Catholic faith they brought a huge host of Franks into the
Gallic provinces to restore to power the depraved Arian faction, and, if
possible, wrest the kingdom from the Catholic Reccared. 217 4 In their
attempt they slaughtered an innumerable host of clerics, monks, and
Catholics of every kind. Their souls, purer than refined gold 218 and more
precious than any precious stone, 219 were received as a burnt offering by
our Saviour, the Lord Jesus and set among the companies of martyrs in
the treasury of heaven. 5 After this, sublime Almighty God did not
delay to fight back against his enemies with his celestial power,
avenging through the prayers of the most excellent prince Reccared the
blood of the innocents, and exacting a wondrous immediate retribution
on his enemies with his avenging scythe. 220 6 When all the enemies of

i.e. Septimania.

216 Athaloc had attempted to stop the conversion of the Goths at 3 Toledo and died of a
broken heart when he failed (Gregory of Tours, HF 9.15).

217 For contemporary readers the horror of rebellion would be compounded by the alliance
formed with the Goths’ traditional enemies, the Franks. We learn from John of Biclarum,
Chron. 91 (AD 589), that these invaders were despatched by King Guntrum of Burgundy
under the command of Count Boso. The Franks clearly wished to take advantage of the
turmoil caused by the conflict of religious belief in the Visigothic Kingdom: John
mentions another invasion led by Duke Desiderius which had been defeated in AD 587
{Chron.%6)\ this is placed at the very end of Leovigild’s reign by Gregory of Tours, HF
8.45.

218 cf Psalm 19.10.

219 An impassioned reference to Revelation 21.11?

220 A reference to the victory of Duke Claudius over the Franks in AD 589. According
to John of Biclarum {Chronicle 91) who likens the victory to that of Gideon over the
Midianites {Judges 7) almost 60,000 Franks were put to flight and the greater part of these
subsequently killed. Isidore {HG 54) remarks of it, ‘No victory of the Goths in Spain was
greater or even comparable’. The effect of the victory can be seen from the fact that the
Franks never again invaded the Kingdom. However Claudius’ victory may have been won

100

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

the Catholic faith had been cast down or had been put to flight, the
Holy bishop Masona and all his flock reciting the psalms sang mystic
praises to the Lord. He then went to the hall of the gentle virgin Eulalia
with all the people clapping their hands and singing hymns. 221 7
Afterwards at the solemn feast of Easter all the citizens celebrated Mass
with him in great joy, rejoicing after the fashion of the ancients, 222
celebrating with loud cries in the streets, praising the Lord, and saying,
‘We shall sing unto to the Lord, for he has been honoured gloriously’, 223
and again, ‘ Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power; thy
right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the
greatness of thy excellency thou hast overthrown those that rose up
against thee.' 224 8 After this the storms cleared from all the land, the
Lord thinking it right to lavish a lasting peace on his Catholic people. 225

1 The holy Masona when he had ruled the church at Merida with divine
aid for many years, tired by his great old age was possessed by a violent
fever and suddenly began to lose his strength in all his body. 2 Then
calling his archdeacon whose name was Eleutherius he said to him,
‘Know, my son, that the time of my departure is at hand 226 and so I beg
and ask you to care diligently for the holy church and all her holy
congregation, so that you leave me feeling secure in all matters and
make it possible for me to weep for my sins in a secret place where
sorrow can be consoled before I die.’ 3 When he heard this, his
archdeacon did not have pity on his sickness and old age nor did he
grieve that he would be left without the comfort of so great a father, but
rather rejoiced with great joy that his bishop was to about die. His heart

with Austrasian assistance and the concession of at least two towns in Septimania to
Theuderic and Brunhilda, see Bulgar, Ep. 3 = PL 80 112.

221 cf Psalm 47.1.

222 A reference to the Israelites.

223 cf Exodus 15.1: Moses’ song after the Red Sea has closed on Pharaoh’s troops.

224 Exodus 15.6-7.

225 Reccared in fact suffered another conspiracy against his life in AD 590 led by Duke
Argimund (John of Biclarum, Chron. 94). On his capture the Duke was scalped, had his
right hand amputated, and was led through the streets of Toledo on an ass,

cf Brunhilda’s fate, VSD 21.

226 2 Timothy 4.6.

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101

was so puffed up in his joy of possessing this fleeting power that he
proudly bustled hither and thither on horseback accompanied by a great
entourage of servant boys. 4 After a few days had passed, holy Masona
wrote a writ of freedom for those slaves who had served him
faithfully, 227 gave them a small sum of money to establish them in their
freedom and gave them a few small possessions. 228 5 When Eleutherius
was told of this, he at once went to the bishop’s palace and asked after
the health of the holy bishop. When he was told that the sickness was
getting worse and that even now he was close to death he immediately
summoned these slaves, and asked them what the holy bishop had in
fact given them. 6 When they told him the truth, he was roused to fury
and menaced them in his rage, threatening them and saying, ‘Behold,
guard well what you have been given, for if you do not give me back
all of it untouched when I ask for it, know that you will be subjected
to the worst kinds of torture.’ After saying this he returned to his home
in fury. 7 Then the slaves entered the small cell where the holy bishop
Masona lay sick on his bed and began to weep bitterly before him,
saying, ‘In your piety you have had pity on us, unworthy though we are,
but it would have been better for us had you not done so. Behold, even
while you yet live they hold out great threats against us, when you are
dead which of us will be able to free himself from their clutches? They
told him this and many similar things as they wept. 8 The bishop on
hearing this found it hard to believe, and first of all as befitted his
serious nature he made a careful inquiry as to whether what he had
heard was true. When he found that it was indeed true, he wept and

227 This writ was to be presented to each new bishop within a year of his consecration or
it would become void, 6 Toledo 9 (AD 638). Ecclesiastical freedmen could not escape the
patrocinium of their previous master as the church was not a mortal individual like secular
masters and thus could not be said to die, 4 Toledo 70 (AD 633).

228 Technically speaking Masona’s actions were probably illegal. While freeing slaves was
regarded as a worthy act, Formulae Wisigothicae , ed. Gil [1974], 2 ‘This deed rouses us
that we may be worthy to find some grace before God’, the freeing of church slaves was
regarded as an excess of zeal. Canon law provided that to free ecclesiastical slaves a
bishop had to recompense the church by paying their value to it. Our first evidence for
this principle is the local council / Seville 1-2 (AD 590). The principle was established
as valid for all of Spain by 4 Toledo 67-70 (AD 633). Masona’s actions would have fallen
between these two decrees and so if not illegal would have been contrary to established
good practice. Later legislation became even harsher, Merida 20 (AD 666) requires each
new bishop to conduct an enquiry into the circumstances of all the ecclesiastical freedmen
under his charge. If any are found to have been freed irregularly they along with their
families and possessions, even those acquired after the manumission, are to become the
property of the church.

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LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

straight away ordered that he be placed in a litter and taken to the
basilica of the most holy virgin Eulalia whom he had ever served with
devotion. 9 When the holy old man arrived there, raising his hands
before the sacred altar and lifting his venerable eyes which were full of
tears to heaven, with a great groan he prostrated himself on the ground
and for a long time poured forth his prayers in the sight of God. 10
When he finished his prayer, speaking in a loud voice which all heard
he said: ‘I thank you, Lord, that you have heard me. May You be
blessed through all ages for You have not ignored my prayer nor taken
Your mercy from me’. 229 When he had said this, he returned to the
episcopal palace restored to his previous health to such a degree that
you would not have thought him sick or elderly, but to have gained a
renewed vigour and sturdy youthfulness. 11 When he wished to go to
Vespers in the normal fashion, all rejoiced greatly. However, the
archdeacon on hearing of this was astounded and overcome by guilt
when he heard that the man he thought was going to die that very day
was going to Vespers. Confused and shamefaced, knowing not what to
do, he stood before the bishop along with all the clergy as is the normal
practice and offered him the customary incense. 12 The man of God
said to him, ‘As my soul lives, you shall go before me.’ He heard, but
did not understand plainly and asked the other deacons what the holy
bishop had meant when he said ‘You are going before me’. They being
ignorant of the reason replied, ‘What he said to you must mean that you
go before him to the church.’ 13 When they were coming to the end of
the office of Vespers, the archdeacon was struck down by a most violent
pain in the choir of singers and went home gravely ill. 14 When his
mother, a most holy woman, saw him, she rushed straightaway to the
venerable Masona as quickly as she could and, weeping and wailing,
began to beg him to pray to the Lord for her son. To which he merely
replied, ‘What I have prayed for, 1 have prayed for.’ 230 Three days later
the archdeacon died. 231 15 Then the holy bishop Masona in the many

229 cf John 11.41, Psalm 66.19-20.

230 cf Pilate’s words to the Jews asking for the inscription on Christ’s cross to be changed,
John 19.22.

231 Excavations in the church of Sta Eulalia have revealed the tomb of an Archdeacon
Eleutherius who died on the 28th December AD 604. This must be the same Eleutherius
and shows that the archdeacon clearly commanded enough support to be buried in the
church, see Caballero Zoreda and Mateos Cruz [1992].

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

103

days which remained to him gave a great amount of alms to the needy
and giving larger tokens of his gratitude to his faithful servants saw fit
to give them greater gifts than before. Then an old man and in the
decrepitude of old age he breathed out the last breath of his long life at
peace while at prayer. 232

1 After him a holy man of the utmost sanctity and honesty was elected
bishop. He was called Innocent and his worth was shown by his name.
Innocent and honest, he judged no-one, harmed no-one, he showed
himself an inoffensive and pious man all the days of his life. It is said
that at the same time as he was ordained he was considered the lowliest
of the deacons. 233 2 He is said to have possessed so much sanctity and
to have been so conscientious that when the rain failed and a long
drought had burnt up the land, the citizens of the town gathered as one
body and went with him round the basilicas of the martyrs calling on
the Lord in prayer. And whenever they went before him straightaway
rain sufficient to water the land well would fall in abundance from the
heavens. 234 3 Whence there was no doubt that they had been able to
obtain this and greater benefits from almighty God through his tears
springing as they did from a man of humble and honest mind. 4 On his
death, the holy Renovatus, adorned with all virtues, not undeservedly
reached the heights of the bishopric. He was a Goth of noble stock,
famed for his glorious descent. Tall of stature, handsome to behold, of
noble presence, pleasing to look upon, having an attractive expression
on his handsome face: he was altogether admirable in appearance. 5 But
although his external presence was a glory for him, enlightened by the
Holy Spirit 235 he showed himself more handsome within. He was
learned in many disciplines and adorned with all the many virtues. 6
Indeed he gained fame in all his works for he was most equitable and
just, possessed a sharp mind, and was deeply steeped in all the

212 The exact time date of Masona’s death is unknown, but, given the date of Eleutherius’
death, it is most likely to have occurred in AD 605.

233 cf Mark 10.31 ‘But many that are first shall be last; and the last first’, and similar texts
at Matthew 19.30 & Luke 13.30.

234 cf Gregory the Great, Dial. 3.15 and VSF 5.

235 cf John 14.26.

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LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

disciplines of the church and well read in holy writings. 7 While he
showed forth his glory with these many virtues, he taught many
disciples our sacred faith giving them a most hallowed example in his
own life and through his prudence, sanctity, patience, gentleness, and
compassion he fashioned a host of men the same as himself using as his
tools the file of justice and his preaching of the holy faith. The church
still gleams and shines like the sun and moon from his teaching. 8 Then
when he had ruled his church beyond reproach for many years, he was
added to the throngs of Angels and made part of the heavenly legions
above. 236 Leaving his body in wondrous wise when his limbs lost their
strength, he won the right to enter the halls of the heavenly kingdom
and to stay and rule there forever with Christ.

1 The bodies of all these saints I have mentioned lie at rest buried with
honour in one and the same cell close to the altar of the most holy
virgin Eulalia. 237 2 By their venerable tombs Christ daily grants the
grace of holiness in abundance so that whosoever was brought here
suffering from any disease, even though he had been long afflicted by
his illness, as soon as he had called upon the name of God with all his
heart there, he would find and discover that all the disease had been
driven from him and every illness thrust aside, and so hale and hearty
he came by his desired health through the grace of God. 238

Epilogue

1 My rude story has told to the best of its ability of the number of
miracles performed by the soldiers of Christ and of their deaths. Though
in its lack of learning it may in its wretchedness displease the greatly
learned, eschewing pompous wording it ennobles the humble believer
and gathers together something of profit for those who read or listen to

236 cf Matthew 26.53.

237 See note 109 above. Burial within a church was forbidden by / Braga 18 AD 561, but
this canon was frequently ignored; see DVI 13 for a further example.

238 cf VSD 22.

THE LIVES OF THE FATHERS OF MERIDA

105

it. 239 2 I, the lowliest of all men, beg my fastidious readers to read this
little work first and then to belittle it. Let them not be seen to be moved
by hatred rather than good judgement and damn something of which
they have no knowledge. Above all, let them know that driven to write
through the love of Christ and devotion to the most holy Eulalia, I have
expounded well-known events and set down in truthfulness truths which
cannot be doubted. Glory, honour, power, thanks, strength, might, praise
and blessing be to the Three in One, Ever-Lord who rules without end,
now and for evermore. Amen

239 cf VSD 19.

St Ildefonsus of Toledo

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

Preface

It can be said without fear of contradiction that the blessed and learned
presbyter Jerome made a list, starting from the apostles soon after
Christ’s ascension, of those famous men by whose decrees and teachings
the Holy Church, spread throughout all the world, gained prestige
among good men and was defended from her enemies. Writing in a
simple style in order to preserve their praiseworthy and essential
memory, he listed the names of each of them individually, the course
of their lives, and their books and diverse tracts, concluding with his
own life; revealing them by his record and commending them to
posterity through his retelling of their stories. 1 He was followed by
Gennadius who continued these narrations in a similar style. 2 Finally
that wisest of men, Isidore, bishop of the See of Seville, following the
same path, added to the list the best men he knew. 3 But he departed this
life without having looked into this matter fully. After him negligence
has so overtaken everyone in our lands that some deeds have been
obscured by their great antiquity and neglect has also buried in oblivion
very many recent ones. Therefore I, who am certainly no equal to those
whose names the record has preserved nor to those to whom its
recounting has given pleasure, certainly unworthy of the task and
lacking in the substance of any good work, the successor of Eugene II

1 Jerome’s De Viris Illustribus (= PL 23 607-720) was written in AD 392-393 at the
request of Nummius Aemilianus Dexter, son of the bishop of Barcelona. Heavily
dependent on Eusebius, it is 135 paragraphs long and begins with the life of St Peter,
ending with that of Jerome himself. The best edition is that by EC Richardson [1896].

2 A presbyter of Marseilles and author of several heresiological works, now lost, and a
treatise on Church dogmatics (= PL 58 979-1000). Gennadius’ De Viris Illustribus (=PL
58 1059-1120) was a continuation of that of Jerome and circulated along with it; see
Isidore, Etymologiae 6.6. It contains 101 paragraphs ending again with an account of the
author. Gennadius is known to have been alive in the reign of Pope Gelasius (AD 492-
496).

3 Isidore’s De Viris Illustribus (= PL 83 1031-1106) was written c.AD 610 and deals with
46 individuals.

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LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

of blessed memory in the glorious See of the city of Toledo, (which I
call glorious not so much from its immense throng of people since it is
the presence of our glorious princes that gives it glory, but for this
reason: that among those who fear God it is considered both a terrible
place for the unjust and a place worthy of all veneration for the just 4 )
have tried if not in an elegant work, at least by an act of good intent,
to add to their glorious memory lest I should be condemned for my
silence and for covering the gleaming light of the memory of so
glorious a See and such glorious men in murky darkness of silence.

Tales of distant antiquity have been handed down to us which can be
seen to have happened from analogy with our present times. For
Montanus, the most blessed incumbent of this see, in order to disprove
slanders that he was living with a woman, is said to have held glowing
coals in his vestments for all the time that he was consecrating the
sacrifice to the Lord and while he completed the entire celebration of
the mass. After the service was finished, the fire from the living coals
had so become one with the adornment of his vestments that the
vestments did not extinguish the flames nor did their force harm the
vestments. 5

Again when Justus the deacon had insulted Helladius, the bishop of
this See, with his haughty arrogance and after the death of his bishop
lived on as the bishop himself, 6 he became ill and mad with the result
that he died - he was strangled in his sleep by those who helped him at
his own altar because of the intemperance of his ways.

In the same way the presbyter Gerontius, a favourite of the king who
treated his successor, Justus, in a contemptuous and hostile fashion, all
of a sudden lost his wits with the result that all the attentions of the
doctors brought about something in his bones which merely served to
make the disease worse. His madness reached such a pitch that until his
dying day it was a horrific thing to see or to speak to him.

4 Udefonsus here is attempting to assert the religious supremacy of Toledo. His technique
is to state that the importance of the town lies more in its religious leadership than the fact
that it is the secular capital of the kingdom.

5 For a similar use of fire to prove chastity see Gregory of Tours, GC 75 and HF 2.1. 2
Saragossa 2 (AD 592) orders the testing by fire of relics held in formerly Arian churches.

6 There is much controversy as to whether Ildefonsus is referring to Helladius’ successor,
i.e. Bishop Justus of chapter 3, or an entirely separate individual. The overall context of
Ildefonsus’ passage makes the former the more likely option.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

109

Then when the deacon Lucidius had extorted by violence and the
intrigues of worldly friendships the honour of the priesthood and various
goods from the next bishop of Toledo, Eugene I, 7 his wits were so
befuddled and he fell into such a degree of paralysis that when he
wished to live no longer his death was no different to the life he had
possessed, just as his life had been a wish to die.

I, spurred on by the works of these good men, have set down in the
best literary fashion of which I am capable those things that I have
found related of the men of old and those which I have discovered by
seeing them myself in our present day and age in order that I may
become part of the kindly recollection of those with whom through my
sinful life I have no affinity. 1, who do not bring along with them a
wealth of learning into the Temple of God, shall commend to posterity
the memory of those who did so in this faithful act of homage, begging
all of them to intercede for me before the pious Godhead. For this
reason I have made every effort to keep them present in mens’ minds
from which they could have slipped into oblivion.

[Indeed Isidore had written on the most blessed Gregory of blessed
memory, but as he did not say as much as we have learned about his
works, we shall remove his account and add what we have learnt about
him in a more complete account] 8

1 Asturius was the successor of Audentius in the metropolitan See of
the city of Toledo in the province of Carthaginiensis. An outstanding
man, he displayed his virtues more through the example of his life than
by the works he wrote. Blessed in his ministry and deemed worthy of

7 Lucidius is probably the individual discussed by Braulio and Eugene II after the latter
became bishop of Toledo. Eugene’s problems arose from his predecessor, Eugene I,
confessing that after he had been forced to make the man a priest, he had not laid hands
upon him at his ordination and, as the clergy were chanting loudly, had pronounced a
malediction rather than a benediction over him. The status of Lucidius was therefore
questionable. Braulio’s reply was that as Eugene I had acted deceitfully and had not
repudiated the priest’s status in public Lucidius’ orders ought to be regarded as valid; see
Braulio, Ep. 35-6.

8 This is a late interpolation into the manuscript as is the account of Gregory at the end
of DVI. They have been left in here for the sake of completeness. See the discussion in
Codofter Merino [1972].

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

performing a miracle, he earned the right to have an earthly burial by
those with whom he would be united in heaven. For while bishop of his
See, it is said that he was told by divine revelation to seek out the
tombs of the martyrs of God in the town of Alcala de Henares, 9 which
lies some sixty miles from Toledo. Swiftly hastening there, he
encountered the remains of men whom the weight of earth and the
passage of time had consigned to oblivion and who ought to be brought
to the light and the glory of being remembered by men. On discovering
them, he declined to return to his See and, binding himself to the
continual service of these saints, there ended his days. No-one while he
lived, acceded to his seat. For this reason, as the ancients tell us, he is
known as the ninth bishop of Toledo and the first bishop of Alcala de
Henares. 10

2 After Celsus, Montanus took charge of the cathedral of the city of
Toledo, the foremost see of the province of Carthaginiensis. He was a
man outstanding in the virtue of his soul and adorned with the gift of
being able to speak as the occasion demanded. He held and laid it down
his office in a manner worthy of it and the law of heaven. He wrote two
helpful epistles dealing with ecclesiastical discipline. One he sent to the
inhabitants of Palencia in which it is said that using his great authority,
he forbade presbyters to consecrate chrism 11 or bishops to consecrate
churches in dioceses other than their own, asserting with proofs from
the Scriptures that it was in no way permitted to do these things. 12 He

9 The ancient Complutum. The martyrs are the boy martyrs Sts Justus and Pastor who
were executed under Diocletian in c.AD 302; their feast day is 6th August. Relics of the
two saints are preserved in the Collegiate church of the town.

10 Asturius’ bishopric should date to the second half of the fourth century AD. The cult
of Justus and Pastor was certainly known by AD 392, when Paulinus of Nola buried his
son Celsus beside the martyrs’ tomb, Carm. 31 610-610. The two martyrs are also
mentioned by Prudentius a few years later, Peristephanon Martyrorum 4.41-44. Asturius
has been assigned authorship of the hymn, ‘O Dei perenne verbum’ = PL 86 1176 in
honour of Sts Justus and Pastor. However this attribution is normally rejected, see PLS
4 1878.

11 A mixture of olive oil and balsam used for anointing.

12 The text of Montanus’ letters is printed in PL 65 54-60.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

111

condemned and rebuked sympathisers of the Priscillian sect 13
because although they did not practice their beliefs, they cherished
Priscillian’s memory; recalling that in the works of the most blessed
bishop Turibius 14 which he had sent to Pope Leo 15 this self-same heresy
of the Priscillians had been exposed and refuted and ought rightly to
remain condemned. He wrote another epistle to the devout Turibius in
which he praised him for having put an end to the worship of idols and
granted him the authority of a bishop through which he might with all
vigour put an end to priests consecrating chrism and to bishops
consecrating churches in dioceses other than their own. 16 A very old and
reliable tale relates that Montanus carried glowing hot coals in his
vestments before the altar in his own cathedral until he had completed
the entire celebration of the mass in order to absolve himself from
slander. When the solemn rites had been completed, it was found that
the coals had not lost their fire nor his vestments their beauty. In this
way, having given thanks to God, the detestable falsehood of his accuser
and the innocence of the blessed priest were brought to light through the
pure nature of fire. He led his glorious life in the reign of king
Amalaric 17 and held the honour of the bishopric for nine years.

3 Donatus, a monk both in his profession and his deeds, is said to have
been a disciple of a hermit in Africa. On seeing the threat of violence
from barbarian peoples and fearing that his sheep would be scattered

13 Priscillian, a extreme ascetic, was the first Christian to be executed by a Christian
emperor. Put to death by in AD 395 by Magnus Maximus despite intercessions on his
behalf from St Martin of Tours, he remains a controversial figure, see Chadwick [1976].
Braulio when writing to Fructuosus (EpA4) warns him of the dangers of Priscillianism,
but by this time the word may simply have been a general pejorative term; see Cronin
[1985].

14 Bishop of Astorga in the mid fifth century AD, dying c.AD 460. By the thirteenth
century a myth of Turibius travelling to the Holy Land and returning to Spain with a
mysterious trunk of relics had come into being; see Walsh [1992]. There appear to have
been three separate saints of this name in Spain whose lives were often conflated; see
Gaiffier [1941].

15 Pope Leo the Great, pope from c.AD 440 until his death in AD 461.

16 = PL 65 54-60, repeated PL 84 340-342.

17 Amalaric ruled from AD 511-531. Gregory of Tours (HF 3.10) approved of him, but
Isidore {HG 40) says he died 'hated and despised by all’ after his defeat by the Frankish
King Childebert at Narbonne.

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LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

and the dangers to his flock of monks, he crossed the sea to Spain with
around seventy monks and a great collection of books. 18 He was given
food and aid by a noble and devout woman, Minicea, and appears to
have built the monastery at Servitanum. 19 He is said to have been the
first man to have brought a rule for monastic observance to Spain. 20 He
was as distinguished in life by his virtuous example as he was exulted
in death through the glory of his memory. Both while living in this
world and now at rest in the grave, his glory is said to have shone forth
through certain miraculous acts of healing and because of this the
inhabitants of the region are said to give honour to his tomb. 21

18 The ‘barbarian peoples’ are the Berbers. The mid-sixth century saw much warfare
between the Berbers and the Byzantines in Africa. It was presumably this that provoked
Donatus’ flight from his homeland.

19 No trace of this monastery survives. Donatus’s successor, Eutropius, wrote a defence
of his monastery’s regime to Bishop Peter of Ercavica (= PL 80 15-20) which implies that
the monastery was located in Peter’s diocese. Some would identify it with the site at
Cabeza del Griego (Cuenca). For a description of this site see Fontaine [1978] 391-2 and
Schlunk [1945]. Eutropius went on to become bishop of Valencia (Isidore, DVI 32) and
along with Leander of Seville played a leading role at III Toledo in 589 AD (John of
Biclarum, Chron. 92).

20 This statement as it stands is simply false. / Saragossa 6 (AD 380) refers to monks in
the peninsula, as does a letter from Pope Siricius to Eumerius, the bishop of Tarragona,
written soon afterwards (PL 84 632-633). In AD 398, Augustine wrote to abbot Eudoxius
who presided over a monastery on Capraria, one of the Balearic islands (PL 33 187-189).
Baquarius of Braga writing to a deacon consumed with lust in AD 410, advises him to
take himself off to a monastery as a cure (PL 20 1054).

It is possible that Ildefonsus was simply ignorant of the early history of monasticism
in the peninsula. Two alternatives present themselves. One, proposed by Fernandez Alonso
[1955] 458, is that these early references to monks and monasticism refer to hermits rather
than organised monastic communities. It is the case that Isidore (De Officiiis Ecclesiasticis
2.16.11) remarks that a monasterium can exist for one monk only, in other words mean
what we would understand by ‘hermitage’ and ‘hermit’. But as Linage Conde [1973] 219
points out it is unreasonable to assume that all early references to monks are of this kind.
The other alternative is that Ildefonsus means that Donatus introduced a rule which had
not been used in Spain until his arrival. The Augustinian rule from Africa would seem the
best candidate, see Diaz y Diaz [1958] 9-19. However given the early contact between
Augustine and Spanish monks this too seems unlikely.

21 See Jo.Biclar., Chron. 18 - ‘Donatus the abbot of the monastery of Servitanum, was
held in high esteem as a worker of miracles’.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

113

4 Aurasius, bishop of the church of Toledo, a metropolitan city, was
elected to his ministry after Adelphius. 22 A good man, famous for the
authority of his guidance, well suited to set the affairs of the church in
order and its stout defender against stubborn adversities, the more he
showed himself in a kindly light towards the meek, the more courageous
he was found to be against the church’s enemies. In him was to be
found more eagerness to defend the truth than to write books, whence
he is considered to be the equal of the holiest saints because the seed
that was sown by their words was guarded by his protective custody. He
lived as bishop in the times of Witteric, Gundemar, and the beginning
of Sisebut’s reign, holding office for almost twelve years. 23

5 John 24 acceded to the seat of the church of Saragossa following the
bishopric of Maximus. 25 At first he was a father of monks, he was then
made a bishop to guide the common people. A man learned in Scripture,
he was eager to teach more by words than through written works and
was as generous and jovial in giving as he was jovial in appearance. He
so esteemed the blessing of the Spirit of God which nourished him
within through the generosity of his gifts as through his cheerful
disposition that its Grace made dear what he gave and excused what he
had not given. He composed some hymns for church offices which are
elegant in both their music and their words. Amongst his works he
devised a method of discovering the date of the solemn feast of Easter
which was so subtle and useful that both its great brevity and its

22 died c. AD 603.

23 Aurasius was elected bishop c.AD 603 and died c.AD 615. Three of his letters survive:
an Epistula Apologetica , PLS 4 1593-5, a letter to Bishop Agapius, PLS 4 1595-6 and a
letter rebuking Count Froga of Toledo for his Judaising tendencies, PLS 4 1596.

24 John was probably the son of Bishop Gregory of Osma, a signatory of // Carthage in
AD 610. Eugene II wrote a metrical epitaph for him, Carm. 21, and mentions him in two
other poems {Carm. 8, 70).

25 See Isidore, DV1 33. Maximus was present at 2 Barcelona in AD 599 and Egara in
AD 614. His letter to Bishop Argebatus, PL 80 617-620, is a sixteenth-century forgery,
see PLS 4 1662. Blume [1897] attributed to him the hymn, ‘Nardus Columbae Floruit’ (=
PL 86 1310) in honour of St Columba of Meaux.

114

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

obvious correctness give pleasure to the reader. 26 He held his seat of
office for twelve years, leading his life in joy and breathing it out in
ardent prayer. He was bishop in the reigns of Sisebut and Suinthila.

6 After the death of Aurasius, Helladius occupied his seat. This man
while he showed himself a most distinguished member of the royal
court and overseer of state affairs, equally fulfilled the profession and
life of a monk in a secular habit. 27 For when he came, as he often did,
brought by the course of his varied duties, to my monastery (I mean the
monastery of Agali into whose safekeeping I was received as a monk
and which through God’s gifts and the glory of its perennial and clear
holiness has renown manifest to one and all), 28 setting aside his
entourage and the pomp of worldly glory, he would devote himself to
the duties of a monk to the extent that he joined their ranks and carried
bundles of straw to the bakery. When amidst the glamour and arrogance
of this world he began to love and seek out the secrets of solitude, with
a rapid flight and leaving behind everything which he had known, he
came to that holy monastery which he had often visited because of his
vocation in order to remain there and lead the life for which he
longed. 29 There he was made abbot and by his merits and holy

26 The time of Easter was a problem which plagued the church. Roger of Wendover,
writing in the thirteenth century, records in his Flores Historiarum a typical dispute for
AD 573 when the Spanish and Gallican churches celebrated Easter at completely different
times. Roger is clear that the Gallican celebration, not the Arian Spanish feast, was the
one held at the correct date, and cites as proof the fact that spring water was forthcoming
for baptism on the Gallican date but not the Spanish one.

27 Helladius’ secular career was probably under Reccared. His title is obscure: he was
possibly a Duke of a province.

28 The location of this monastery is unknown save that it lay near to Toledo (it is
normally identified with the church of St Cosmas and St Damian mentioned as lying ‘in
suburbio Toletano’ in the Beati lldefonsi Gesta written by Pseudo-Cixila in the tenth
century AD). One suggested location from linguistic grounds is the Palacio de Galiana;
for others see Codofler Merino [1972] 49 n.l 10. An unsubstantiated tradition states that
it was founded in the reign of the Arian Athanagild. Though it may have been dedicated
to Cosmas and Damian who were Eastern saints, Codofler Merino [1972] 49 n.l 12 is
correct to point out that Braegelmann [1942] is wrong in assuming that it was probably
an Eastern foundation.

29 Codofler Merino [1972] 53 sees Helladius’ retreat to the monastery as resulting from
a change of regal policy under Witteric.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

115

endeavours ruled over the monks as was proper: increasing the status of
the monastery and the wealth of the entire community. Then, when his
limbs were tiring as old age drew on, he was called to the heights of a
bishopric and as he had been summoned both by force and without any
say in the matter, he showed in this office greater proofs of his virtue
than when he had been a monk. For through his virtue he is said to have
ruled with great wisdom over the worldly matters which he despised and
to have given such comfort and lavish amounts of alms to the needy
that you would have thought that both the body and soul of the poor
were dependent on his good will. He declined to write as he
demonstrated things that ought to be written through the pages of his
daily life. Returning to the monastery I have mentioned at the end of his
life, he made me a deacon. He died an old man, having held office for
eighteen years. The blessed man was a bishop during the reigns of
Sisebut and Suinthila and in the first years of Sisenand’s reign and after
a long old age of goodness earned the more blessed glory of the
celestial kingdom. 30

7 After Helladius, Justus, his disciple, was made his successor: a man
who from his physical appearance and sharpness of his mind was both
handsome and clever. A monk from his infancy, he had been well
educated and instructed by Helladius in the virtues of the monastic life,
and was made the third abbot after him. 31 Soon too he was made his
successor as bishop. A man of sharp wits and no mean speaker, he
would have lived in hope of great things had not his final day cut his
life short. 32 He wrote a letter in a fitting and appropriate style to
Rechila, the abbot of the monastery of Agali, in which he forcefully
urged him that it would not at all be right to abandon the flock of which
he had taken charge. 33 He was a bishop for three years and died in the
reign of King Sisenand, who died and departed this life nineteen days
after him.

30 Helladius was probably bishop c.AD 615-633.

31 Is this the Justus of the preface who insulted Helladius?

32 This is quite possibly a euphemism for the violent death recorded in the preface.

33 This letter is lost. The short tract ‘On the Enigmas of Solomon’ was assigned to Justus
by Heine [1848], but this has been strongly challenged by Diaz y Diaz [1957] and the
tract is now normally assigned to Taio of Saragossa, see Vega [1957].

116

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

8 Isidore took charge of the Cathedral of the See of Seville in province
of Baetica after his brother Leander. 34 A man distinguished both by his
looks and intellect. 35 His ability in speaking reached such a pitch of
fluency and delight that his wondrous richness of expression left his
audience enraptured to such a degree that a man who had heard him
would not remember what he had said unless it was repeated many
times. He wrote famous works and no small number of them, namely: 36
a book on the nature of church offices, 37 a book of prooemia, 38 a book
on the rise and fall of the prophets, 39 a book of lamentations which he
himself called the Synonima, 40 two short works for his sister on the
iniquities of the Jews, 41 a work of natural history dedicated to king
Sisebut, 42 a book of Differentiae , 43 and a book of Sententiae , 44 Moreover
he collected together from various authors a work which he called the
Explanations of the secrets of the sacraments , 45 which gathered into one
book is called the Book of Questions. Finally he wrote at the request of

34 See Isidore, DVI 41. The elder brother of Isidore, Leander was born c.AD 545 in
Cartagena. His family fled from Cartagena at the time of the Byzantine Invasion during
Athanagild’s rebellion against Agila. His later support for the Catholic rebel Hermenegild
led to his exile to Constantinople by Leovigild where he met the future Pope Gregory the
Great. Recalled by Leovigild, he became bishop of Seville and presided over 3 Toledo
(AD 589) where Leovigild’s son, Reccared, announced his and the kingdom’s conversion
to Catholicism. Most of his extensive works are lost and only his address to 3 Toledo and
a monastic rule for nuns survive. It is possible, however, that he is the author of the Liber
Orationum Psalmographus, ed. Pinell [1972].

35 8 Toledo (AD 653) refers to Isidore as the doctor of the church, a title officially
conferred on him by the Roman Catholic church in AD 1722.

36 Braulio provides a much better summary of Isidore’s works in his preface to them: PL
82 65.

37 = PL 83 757-826.

38 = PL 83 155-180. This outlines the contents of the individual books of the Bible.

39 = PL 83 129-156.

4(1 A two part work where Reason appears and comforts the Soul giving it the hope of
obtaining forgiveness. = PL 83 825-868.

41 = PL 83 449-538.

42 = PL 83 963-1018, Fontaine [I960].

43 This work, in fact written in 2 books, explained the differences between near
homonyms such as ‘amnia’ and ‘animus’ = PL 83 9-98

44 In fact a work of theology in 3 books. The first book deals with dogmatics, the
remaining two with personal and social ethics. The work draws heavily on St Augustine
and the Moralia of Gregory the Great. = PL 83 537-738.

45 = PL 83 207-444. The work’s alternative title is ‘Questions on the Old Testament’.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

117

Braulio, the bishop of Saragossa, a book of Etymologies which he tried
to finish for many years and appears to have spent his last day working
on it. 46 He lived in the times of kings Reccared, Liuva, Witteric,
Gundemar, Sisebut, Suinthila, and Sisenand, holding the office of bishop
for almost forty years, an outstanding glory and ornament of the Holy
Faith. 47

9 After John, 48 Nonnitus acceded as bishop to the See of Gerona. A
monk by profession, outstanding in his honesty, holy in his deeds, he
was elected to his bishopric not through the long deliberation of men,
but by a swift decree of God enacted through men. He dedicated himself
at once to the cult of tomb of the holy martyr Felix. 49 He ruled the
church of God by the example of his meritorious life rather than
through written edicts. Both while in his mortal body and at rest in the
tomb he is said to have worked miracles of healing. 50 He was bishop in
the times of kings Suinthila and Sisenand.

46 = PL 82 73-1054. For a partial English translation with somewhat unsympathetic
commentary, see Brauhert [1912]. A full Spanish bi-lingual edition edited by Oroz Reta
& Marcos Casquero [1982] is available.

47 Isidore was bom c.AD 560, became bishop of Seville c.600 AD and died most
probably in AD 636.

48 i.e. the Chronicler John of Biclarum, so called after the monastery he founded (see
Isidore, DVI 44), who was exiled to Barcelona by Leovigild and became bishop of Gerona
between AD 589-592 on the death of Bishop Alicius, a post which he held to his death.
This must have occurred after Egara in AD 614 to which he was a signatory. For John
see Wolf [1990].

49 This is where Reccared dedicated the votive crown which Count Paul later used to
crown himself with in his rebellion against Wamba, Julian of Toledo, Hist Wamba 26 (=
PL 96 791-792). The cult of the martyr Felix (feast day 1st August) was centred on
Gerona, see Prudentius, Peristephanon Martyrorum 4.29-30, and Gregory of Tours, GC
91. FAbrega [1953] attributes the hymn dedicated to Felix, ‘Fons Deus vitae perennis’ (=
PL 86 1171-1173) to Nonnitus. The two masses for the saint’s feast day (Ferotin [1904]
380ff and 583ff) have also been attributed to him by some commentators.

50 Nonnitus’ death is mentioned by Braulio in his letter to the abbess Pomponia, Ep. 18.
He was present at 4 Toledo (AD 633) but must have died before AD 636.

118 LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

10 After Murilas, Conantius acceded to the seat of Palencia. 51 A serious
man in the gravity of his thought as much as in appearance, he was
eloquent and popular for his simple way of speaking. An enthusiast for
and attentive to the rituals of church services, he composed many noble
melodies. He also wrote a good short work on the correct use of all the
Psalms. He lived as bishop for more than 30 years, holding the office
in the last years of Witteric, and in the times of Kings Gundemar,
Sisebut, Suinthila, Sisenand and Chintila. 52

11 Braulio, the brother of John, acceded to his place in Saragossa after
his death. As he was bound to him in kinship, so he was no less close
to him in his great intellectual ability. He is known for his hymns and
some minor works. 53 He wrote a life of a certain monk, Aemilian, which
both preserves his memory and praises this holy man in its own style.
He held his bishopric for almost twenty years, which when complete
closed the span of his mortal life. He was bishop in the time of kings
Sisenand, Chintila, Tulga, and Chindasvinth.

12 Eugene, the pupil of Helladius, and a fellow-reader and colleague of
Justus became bishop after Justus. 54 He had been educated by Helladius
along with Justus from infancy in holy monastic disciplines, and when
Helladius was summoned to his bishopric he took Eugene from the
monastery with him. Taught by him once again in ecclesiastical orders,
he became the third rector of his seat after him. This was the great merit

51 The mentor of Fructuous see VSF 2. Murilas was an Arian bishop who abjured his
faith at 3 Toledo.

52 c.AD 609-c.AD 639.

53 All that survives today are VSM, a poem (whose authorship is disputed, see Barlow
[1969]) in honour of Aemilian incorporated into Mozarabic liturgy, and a collection of 44
Letters.

54 Eugene the first is occasionally known as Eugene II. This is due to the rise of a later
cult of a mythical first-century bishop Eugene of Toledo which took root at Deuil near
Paris in the twelfth century. Gaiffier [1935, 1965, 1966] believes that the cult was
engendered by a confusion of hagiographic traditions; contra Rivera Recio [1963 & 1964]
who believes, less plausibly, that the confusion arose from the translation of Eugene IPs
(i.e. Eugene III with the inclusion of the mythical Eugene) remains to France for safety
in the eighth century (see review by Gaiffier [1966a]). The confusion persisted for
centuries. Philip II escorted the remains of ‘Eugene F back to Toledo from Paris in the
sixteenth century.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

119

of the old man - that he managed to leave as his legacy to the church
of God two disciples and saintly sons by whom she could be governed.
Eugene was stem in the manner of his life and gait, and sharp in mind.
He knew with such wisdom the phases, stations, waxings and wanings,
cycles and epicycles of the moon that the exposition of his arguments
would astound the hearer and lead him to correct belief. He was bishop
for almost eleven years during the reigns of kings Chintila, Tulga, and
Chindasvinth.

13 After Eugene, Eugene II was elected bishop. He, although he had
been a famous cleric at the royal church, took pleasure in the life of a
monk. Seeking the city of Saragossa by a wise flight, he dedicated
himself there to the tombs of the martyrs and cultivated, as was proper,
the study of wisdom and the life of a monk. Through the violence of the
king he was brought back from Saragossa and made bishop. 55 He spent
his life more by displaying his merits than by being active. For he had
a slight body and little physical strength, but his spirit was on fire with
virtue and pursued the strength which is to be had from goodly studies. 56
Through his knowledge of music he corrected songs which had been
corrupted by continual use, and took care to restore the lost orders of
church offices. He wrote a small work on the Holy Trinity which shines
with eloquence and is profound in its exposition of truth. This would
have been despatched to Africa and the East, had not the straits
resounding with storms made the journey perilous for the panic-stricken
travellers. 57 He wrote two other short works, one in verse composed of
a variety of different sorts of poetry, the other in prose on a number of
distinct topics, which have served to ensure a firm memory of this holy

55 AD 646, see Braulio, Ep. 31-33. The King involved is Chindasvinth.

56 Eugene alludes to his precarious health in several of his poems, Vollmer [1905] n M s
13,14 and in a letter to Braulio (Braulio Ep. 35). He also appears to have disliked hot
weather, Vollmer [1905] n°101.

57 Now lost. Ndjera fragment 18 in the library of Santo Domingo de Silos is possibly a
fragment of this work which Collins [1989] believes was a Spanish contribution to the
Monothelite controversy.

120

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

man and been a spur for the work of many others. 58 He took the works
of Dracontius concerning the creation of the world, which antiquity had
handed down to us in a corrupt fashion and finding the errors in them
by removing these or correcting them or adding improvements, brought
them into an acceptable form, so that their beauties seem to be due more
to the skill of their correction than the hand of the original author. 59
Since Dracontius appears to have left the work half-finished as he is
altogether silent about the seventh day, Eugene added a summary of the
six days in six individual lines of verse and then added an elegant
discussion of what seemed appropriate to him concerning the seventh
day. 60 He held the honour and glory of his priestly office for some
twelve years in the reigns of Kings Chindasvinth and Reccesvinth. After

58 The extant works of Eugene are edited by Vollmer [1905] and can also be found at PL
87 359-368 & 389-400. Messina [1983] believes that the corpus of over 100 poems
includes a collection of 40 composed not by Eugene, but an unknown secular poet. The
main influence on Eugene’s work is Virgil, though echoes of Lucilius, Ovid, Catullus,
Juvenal, Perseus, Petronius, and Valerius Soranus can also be found along with those of
Christian poets from Prudentius and Juvencus to Venantius Fortunatus. Eugene may have
known many of these poets from excerpts in florilegia rather than being conversant with
their entire works. The judgement of posterity on Eugene’s poetry has generally been
negative. Raby [1927] ‘His verses with their metrical faults, their barbarism of phrase,
their poverty of contents, their characteristics of acrostic, telestich, and epanalepsis
illustrate the declining culture of the seventh century’ is a typical example. However
Codofier [1981] presents a spirited case for the defence.

In addition, a variety of hymns have been assigned to Eugene such as PL 86 913 ‘Ecce
Christe tibi cara’ for the consecration of churches; PL 86 1123 ‘Hierusalem gloriosa’ for
the feast of St Hadrian and St Natalia (17th June); and PL 1183 ‘Adsunt, o populi festa
celebria’ for the feast of St Hippolytus (13th Augustus, see Gaiffier [1949]). P6rez de
Urbel [1926] believes that the three hymni pro varia clade = PL 86 919-921 are also by
Eugene; however, see contra PLS 4 1876 which argues for a fifth century date and an
Italian author. For a group of prayers attributed to Eugene see PLS 4 2012-2016 and
Vives [1946] 372.

59 Blossius Aemilius Dracontius was bom c.AD 450 to Senatorial parents in Campania.
Transplanted to Africa, he pursued a legal career while writing poetry. Excessive praise
of an unknown individual led to him being arrested by the Vandal king Guthamund,
though he was freed in c.AD 496 by Guthamund’s successor Thrasamund. His poetry
edited by Vollmer [1905] (for a poorer edition see PL 60 679-932) is wide ranging in
style. Eugene’s Metrical Preface to the Works of Dracontius can be found at PL 87 369-
372.

60 Monos ticha recapitulationis septem Die rum = PL 87 388.

ON THE LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

121

passing from this mortal light, he lies in his tomb in the Basilica of Sta
Leocadia.

[Pope Gregory, head of the apostolic see of Rome, full of the fear of
God and outstanding in his humility, was so endowed through the grace
of Holy Spirit with the light of knowledge that not only is no-one of
these present times, but neither was anyone of times gone by his equal.
For sublime and shining forth in the perfection of every kind of good
deed, setting aside all comparisons with famous men, antiquity can show
us nothing similar to him.

For he was Antony’s superior in holiness, Cyprian’s in eloquence, and
Augustine’s in wisdom. When he took up his bishopric, he wrote a book
of pastoral guidance to send to John, bishop of the see of
Constantinople, in which he taught which and what kind of man should
come to office, and how, when he held office, he ought to strive to live
and teach his flock. 61 This most excellent teacher wrote moreover, apart
from the small works which Isidore of blessed memory has made
mentioned, other books on Morals: namely twenty two homilies on the
prophet Ezekiel bound into two books in which he discusses many
things concerning the divine scriptures in a brilliant fashion. These
works are mystic and moral, but at the same time readable. 62

On the book of Solomon, whose name is the Song of Songs, how
wondrously he writes, going through the whole work and expounding
its moral import. 63 He wrote four books preserving the memory of the
church fathers of Italy, which he gathered into one volume, which he
preferred to be called the Dialogues . In these books the conscious reader
is easily able to learn for himself how great a quantity of divine
mysteries lie hidden there and what wonderful testaments they are to his
love of his divine homeland. 64

There are also extant a great number of his letters to various
correspondents, which are edited and written in a clear style, which, if
a man reads them, he will clearly see that in Gregory was a goodly
longing after God and that he was studious in his care and vigilance for

61 = PL 77 13-128.

62 = PL 76 785-1312. In fact the two books contain 52 homilies.

63 = PjL 79 471-548.

64 = PL 77 149-430.

122

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

the well-being of the souls of others. Gathering these together into one
volume, he divided them into twelve books and gave them the name of
the Register . 65 It is said that he wrote other famous works, but they have
not yet come into our possession. Most fortunate is he, exceeding
fortunate to whom God has granted the opportunity to study his works
in their entirety. This glorious man and most blessed teacher and bishop
lived in the reign of the Emperor Maurice. 66 ]

65 = PL 77 441-1328.

66 AD 582-602.

[Valerius of El Bierzoj

THE LIFE OF ST FRUCTUOSUS OF BRAGA

1 After the new brightness of heavenly truth flooded in upon the
ancient darkness of the world, the grandeur of the teachings of the
Catholic faith shone forth from the seat of Rome, the foremost seat of
the Holy Church, and most excellent examples of sacred religion blazed
out from Egypt, the province of the East, and the edge of this slender
Western shore began to shed forth light, divine piety lit two glorious
lamps of outstanding brightness, 1 namely Isidore, a most reverend man,
bishop of Seville 2 and the most blessed Fructuosus, a man who from his
birth was just and beyond reproach. The former was famous for his
oratory, 3 outstanding in his labours, and, steeped in the arts of learning,
was foremost in renewing the tenets of the Roman church. 4 The latter,
set alight by the flame of the Holy Spirit in his most sacred vocation of
a religious life, excelled so perfectly in every spiritual discipline and all
his holy works that he easily made himself equal in merit to the Theban
Fathers. 5 Isidore through the industry of an active life educated all Spain
in worldly affairs, 6 Fructuosus aflame with shimmering brightness from
his living of the contemplative life, illuminated the innermost secrets of
the heart. Isidore, shining out through his outstanding eloquence,
obtained fame through his learned books, while Fructuosus, gleaming at
the peak of virtue, left us an example of religious living and followed
with innocent step the footprints of his master who had gone before
him: our Lord and Saviour. 7 So wondrous are the signs of his virtues
that our ineptitude is unable to bear witness to them. But from as much

1 cf Genesis 1.12 - the creation of the sun and moon, cf VPE 5.14.7.

2 See DVI 9.

3 cf DVI 8.

4 Literally ‘the Church of the Romans’, possibly drawing a contrast with the Church of
the Goths, i.e. the Arian Church. ‘Renewal’ probably refers to the fact that Isidore’s
activity took place soon after the conversion of the Goths to Orthodoxy under Reccared
in AD 590.

5 i.e. the Desert Fathers of Egypt.

6 Perhaps a reference to Isidore’s Etymologiae.

7 cf / Peter 2.21.

123

124

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

as I have learnt from trustworthy reports, 1 shall write of and inquire
into a few matters from the beginning and end of his life.

2 This blessed man was sprung from most glorious royal stock, the son
of a man of highest rank, a Duke of the Spanish Army. 8 While he was
still a little boy living with his parents, it happened one day that his
father took him along with him among the mountain valleys of El
Bierzo to receive the accounts of his flocks. 9 While his father recorded
the flocks and discussed the accounts of the shepherds, the young boy,
inspired by the Lord, was thinking that this was a suitable place to
found a monastery. He kept this thought to himself and revealed it to no
one. After the death of his parents, casting aside the trappings of this
world and shaving his head since he had undertaken a religious life, he
gave himself up to that most holy man the bishop Conantius ,0 to be
taught in the disciplines of the spirit. After he had lived under his
regime for some time, it happened one day that his fellow monks went
on before him and on arriving at a possession of the church had
prepared a room for him to stay in. One of the stewards of the place
then came up and asked them, ‘Who is going to occupy this room’, and
they replied ‘Fructuosus’. Immediately, overcome with mad temerity, he
ordered Fructuosus’ small pack to be thrown out and the room to be
prepared for himself. Fructuosus bore this with patient silence. When all
lay at rest in the still silence of the night, suddenly a flame from the
anger of the fury of the Lord set light to the dormitory. Since this room
did not possess the customary fireplace, 11 it is clear that it was through

8 While Dukes could be of either Hispano-Roman or Gothic descent, the reference to
royal stock means that Fructuosus must have been at least half and probably fully a Goth
as royalty was reserved to those of Gothic race (5 Toledo 3 and 6 Toledo 17). A poem
reputed to have been written by Fructuosus (Diaz y Diaz [1974] 123 = PL 87 1129) links
his family to that of King Sisenand (AD 631-636), Sclua, metropolitan bishop of
Narbonne, and bishop Peter of B6ziers, see Diaz y Diaz [1967]. We have no way of
determining his date of birth, but given our one fixed reference point, 10 Toledo (AD
656), the early years of the seventh century seems the most plausible time. The title of
‘Duke of the Spanish Army’ is not found elsewhere. It may refer to a provincial army or
possibly the entire army of the Kingdom which would have made Fructuosus’ father
second only to the king himself in the military chain of command.

9 For an extant account of this sort see Velazquez Soriano [1989] n‘.97.

10 Probably to be identified with Conantius of Palencia (AD 610-640), see DV1 11.

11 Diaz y Diaz [1974] 83 believes that this is a reference to a hypocaust.

THE LIFE OF ST FRUCTUOSUS OF BRAGA

125

the righteous anger of the Lord brought on through the prayers of the
holy youth that this wretch bloated with arrogance was forced, in fear
of great danger and terrified that he might come to harm and lose his
possessions, to abandon the room which he had usurped. 12

3 After this, returning to the place of solitude I previously mentioned,
now a grown man he brought to completion the vow he had made as a
small child. For he built the monastery of Compludo according to divine
precepts, and keeping nothing for himself, but spending all his wealth
on it, he richly endowed it and filled it to overflowing with an army of
monks who came both from his own household and from the converts
who eagerly hurried here from all over Spain. 13 As it is written that ‘the
envy of the Enemy always pursues sanctity and evil fights against
good’, 14 straightaway a wicked man, his sister’s husband, 15 was roused
up by the goads of the Old Enemy, prostrated himself before the king, 16
and on rising took away his wits so that he decreed that half of the
inheritance should be taken from the holy monastery and given to him
on the pretext of leading a campaign. 17 When this became known to the
most blessed man, he at once took down the trappings of the church,

12 cf Sulpicius Severus, Ep. 1 10-14. For another incident of localised fire bringing divine
punishment see Gregory of Tours, GC 80.

13 Diaz y Dfaz [1967] places the date of the foundation of Compludo at AD c.640. The
site is probably that of an hermitage near the village of Compludo, see Perez de Urbel
[1944] & F16rez Manjarin [1967]. The monastery appears to have been dedicated to Justus
and Pastor, the martyrs of Alcald de Henares (ancient Complutum, see Prudentius
Peristephanon Martyrorum 4.41-43) hence its name. The Rule of Compludo , ch.18,
requires the monks to fast during the 40 days leading up to the martyrs’ feast day, 6th
August.

14 This phrase is taken from the Passion of St Eugenia , ch.28.

15 According a poem attributed to Fructuosus his name was Visinand. See Diaz y Diaz
[1974] 123.

16 Probably King Chindasvinth AD 642-653. A foundation document for Compludo dated
18th November AD 646 and bearing the names of Chindasvinth and his wife, Reciberga,
exists which lists the patron saints of the abbey as Justus, Pastor, Mary, and Martin. Its
authenticity was accepted by P6rez de Urbel [1944] 388, but it is normally regarded as
a forgery.

17 The grant of land would have been made in stipendio , i.e. in return for service (see 13
Toledo 1). This has been seen by some commentators as the embryonic beginnings of
feudalism, however see contra Linehan [1992]. Such grants could be revoked on the
accession of a new ruler but in practice this rarely occurred, see King [1972] 62.

126

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

laid bare the holy altars and clothed them in hair-cloth, 18 and wrote to
his brother-in-law to confound him, rebuke him, and threaten him in the
Lord’s name. He himself turned to fasting, grief, tears, and fulsome
prayer. And so it came to pass that this envier of holy men and enemy
of good deeds was at once struck down by divine vengeance and swiftly
ended his life. Thus it came about that a man who had wished to take
away the offerings of holy men, himself cruelly passed from this world,
leaving no children and handing his wealth on to strangers, taking only
his perdition with him.

4 The most holy man established a complete rule and chose an abbot
known for his great firmness of discipline for the monastery. 19 Then,
because he was suffering frequent disturbances from the host of people
who came to him from all parts since reports of his wondrous sanctity
had spread to all regions, fleeing mortal praise and favour, he set out
from his congregation and with unshod feet buried himself in the
forests, places full of briars, rough, harsh country 20 and spent his time
in caves and among the rocks in threefold fasts, ever more vigils, and
prayer. 21

18 Cilicium , so named from its country of origin Cilicia, but by this period simply
indicating hair-cloth.

19 The harsh rule devised for the monastery by Fructuosus has survived (PL 87 1099-
1110). The influence of the rules of St Benedict, Isidore (see Campos [1971] 130-132),
and Augustine are clear, but its largest debt is to Cassian (see de VogU6 [1985]).
Fructuosus’ interest in Cassian can be seen from the fact that he asked Braulio for parts
of his work (Braulio, Ep. 43) and that his first disciple was named Cassian, see chapter

19 below. For an English translation of the rule, see Barlow [1969] 154ff.

Two other monastic documents have been associated with Fructuosus: the so-called
Common Rule (- PL 87 1109-1127) which was attributed to the saint by Benedict of
Aniane (d.AD 821) and the Monastic Pact (= PL 87 1127-1130). The former is in fact
not a rule at all, but a collection of decisions on various monastic problems apparently
taken by a conclave of abbots. The abbots involved were probably those from monasteries
founded by Fructuosus. The Pact is an agreement between the monks of a monastic
foundation and the abbot which limits the abbot’s powers. It is normally assumed to
reflect Germanic ideals of authority. For ‘Pactual’ monasticism see Bishko [1951].

20 ‘argis’ a near hapax, see Diaz y Diaz [1948].

21 Fructuosus does however appear to have had a servant, Baldarius with him; see
Valerius of El Bierzo, De Coelestu Revelatione = PL 87 435-6.

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5 Once, while clothed in a cloak made of goat skins, he was struggling
in prayer on the crags of a certain rock, 22 an archer came and lay in
wait for his prey. When he saw him on the crag prostrate in prayer,
thinking that he was his rock-dwelling quarry, he bent his bow. 23 When
he was about to release the string to send forth the arrow, Fructuosus,
inspired by divine providence, raised his hands in prayer to the sky. The
archer perceiving that his target was a man, held his fire. Afterwards
when he came to Fructuosus and told him all about the incident, the
blessed man asked him not to reveal it to anyone. 24
[As he traversed back and forth across this wilderness without ceasing,
the harsh terrain tore the soles of the holy man’s feet so that the feet of
this innocent man were covered in blisters. Because of this he was for
some time unable to rise from where he lay. During these days a harsh
drought afflicted the land with the threatening wrath of divine anger. At
the most blessed man’s command, all the congregations of monks sallied
forth with their holy relics to supplicate the Lord at the holy places.
After some days they returned to him, worn out by their ordeal, but
having obtained no answer to their prayer. He, weeping and groaning,
said to them, ‘Lift up my hand and support the weakness of my limbs.
Great is the mercy of the Lord, perhaps in his own good time he will
grant that it shall rain.’ Then he set forth with the monks going with
him and holding up his right hand. They had gone but a small distance
when rain fell in such abundance that they were scarce able to return
home. Then all of one accord they glorified the Lord for his mercy,
wondering at the merits of his most faithful and holy servant.] 25

22 The standard dress for monks in the rule of Pachomius which would have been known
in Jerome’s translation to Fructuosus and his biographer.

23 i.e. an Ibex, still hunted in Spain today. The ibex is mentioned by Isidore, Etymologiae
12.1.16 who derives its name from ‘avis’ or ‘bird’ because of its habit of living in high
inaccessible places; cf Gregory the Great, Dial.2. \ where Benedict is thought to be a wild
beast because of his dishevelled state; similarly Cassian remarks that the abbot Paphnutius
resembled a wild cow, PL 49 559ab.

24 Possibly in imitation of Christ not wishing his miracles to be known but more likely
because he did not want his hermitage to be revealed for fear of the consequences - see
chapter 9.

25 This interpolation is found in Manuscript O of the life = Biblioteca Universitaria de
Salamanca, ms.2537. The manuscript dates from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth
century and is the work of three copyists; it in turn is a transcription of a manuscript of
written in AD 1142. For a full discussion of its history see Diaz y Diaz [1974] 51-52. The

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LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

6 After this in a vast, deserted ravine far from this world, he built the
monastery of Rufianum 26 in the bosom of the towering mountains, and
hid himself in a small, narrow cell by the holy altar. 27 [While one night
he lay prostrate in prayer, that envious foe, the Old Enemy, cast a huge
stone through the window in order to strike him. Straightaway Fructuous
reproved him fiercely, making the sign of the cross, and at once the
devil was heard rushing into the depths of the mountains howling and
screaming so that everyone knew that he had been put to flight,
vanquished by the stratagems of the servant of God] 28 When Fructuosus
had passed some time in this place in quietness, the whole congregation
of the monastery of Compludo sallied forth and this multitude of monks
cast him out of his cloister there with pious violence and brought him
back to his old home. Finally setting out from here, he founded the
monastery of Visunia in the territory of Bierzo in the province of
Gallaecia. 29

passage’s chronology is clearly awry in that it assumes that Fructuosus is an old man and
has already founded many monasteries, neither of which is the case in the narrative of the
life up to this point

26 The modem San Pedro de Los Montes (Astorga). The site is near the source of the
river Oza in the Aguiana Mountains. Valerius of El Bierzo who stayed here describes the
site as ‘surrounded by high mountains like the Alps of Gaul’, adding that as there was
only one tortuous footpath leading to the monastery along which men had to walk in
single file there was no need for the foundation to have a wall to keep out intruders. Near
the monastery was a high rock with an oratory cut from the stone used by Fructuosus. See
Valerius, Residuum 1. The path to the monastery appears to have been constructed by
Fructuosus’ servant Baldarius, see Valerius of El Bierzo, De Coelestu Revelatione = PL
87 435-6.

27 An ergastulum , a word also used to mean a punishment cell, cf. VPE 2.5. These rooms
were frequently found near the altar for meditative purposes and were often too narrow
to allow the inmate to turn round in, see Pdrez de Urbel [1944] t.2 67. This particular cell
was later used by Valerius of El Bierzo, Ordo 7.169.

28 Addition found in manuscript O.

29 Gallaecia was one of the provinces of Late Roman Spain created out of the older and
much larger province of Hispania Tarraconensis in AD 298. Its capital was Braga.
Fructuosus’ foundation is normally identified with the monastery dedicated to St Felix at
San Fiz de Visufla in the province of Lugo; see L6pez Valcarcel [1968]. Valerius of El
Bierzo states that a church was established here after pagan shrines had been destroyed,
which may indicate the lingering of pagan belief in this area of Spain, Replicatio 1. He
further notes that Fructuosus used to pray on a rock below the monastery where later his
disciple Satuminus built a church dedicated to the Holy Cross, St Pantaleon, and ‘the
other martyrs’, Replicatio 9. The dangers of the area are well illustrated by the fact that

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7 Afterwards he built the monastery of Peonense in the other part of
Galicia by the sea [next to the Port of Foro.] 30 [and with a lively desire
to go on pilgrimage he embarked in the midst of the crashing waves on
a ship which would take him to the land of the Franks and thence with
the Lord’s guidance to the East. Betrayed by his own servants, many
Franks who were in the country carrying on their business were arrested
by Dogila, the Duke of Lugo, and held as hostages until the man of God
returned from the high sea to his monastery] 31 While he was there, he
conceived a great wish to sail on the sea and discovered a small island
far out in the ocean. 32 He formed the idea of founding a monastery there
with God’s help. When they landed, the sailors on disembarking
carelessly left the boat in which they had crossed over unmoored.
Fructuosus prayed intensely with his disciples beneath a rock that fresh
water might come forth. 33 On finishing their prayers, they wished to
return to the mainland. They then saw their ship far off in the middle
of the sea, cast about among the waves by blustering storms at the
instigation of the Enemy. While all his disciples, made desperate by
their peril, gave themselves up to great grief, Fructuosus prayed and
then cast himself alone into the depths of the sea. His disciples cried out
most pitiably in twofold lamentation: fearing for his danger and grieving
over their own destruction. Because of the great distance, he was hidden
from their eyes and they gave themselves up to renewed despair. Then,

one of Valerius’ disciples, John, was beheaded by a local peasant while he lay prostrate
before the altar at Visunia, Replicatio 14.

30 The port of Foro is found in manuscript L of the life = National Library of Portugal,
ms.Alcobaga 283/454 which dates from the late thirteenth century. For a full discussion
see Diaz y Diaz [1974] 49-50. If‘Forensem’ is a miscopying of ‘farensem’, the port of
the lighthouse, the site of the monastery could be plausibly located at Corunna where a
Roman Lighthouse has survived to the present day, incorporated into the ‘Tower of
Hercules’. However, no remains of a monastic foundation have been found in or near the
town. The monastery has been traditionally identified with San Pedro de Calago near San
Juan de Poyo close to Pontevedra; see, for example. Nock [1946]. Puertas Tricas [1975]
is somewhat sceptical of this identification.

31 Addition found in manuscript O. It has been misplaced from chapter 17.

32 The phrase ‘far out in the ocean’ is difficult to interpret as the hagiographer also uses
‘ocean’ to mean ‘river’ -see chapter 13. The island remains unidentified: possible
candidates are one of the Cies islands at the mouth of the river Vigo or Tambo, an island
in the river Pontevedra.

33 In order to make the island inhabitable, cf Exodus 17.6.

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after many hours had gone by, looking out into the distance, they saw
their ship slowly coming towards them. When it had drawn nearer, they
saw Fructuosus sitting in it, full of joy. Welcoming him with great
rejoicing, they crossed back to the mainland in exultation. Finally
returning to the same island where the envious and evil Enemy had tried
to stop him beginning his holy work, he built the promised holy
monastery with God’s aid and dedicating it according to his customary
practice left it well fortified. 34

8 As talk of his outstanding holiness grew ever greater, many
distinguished and noble men, even some from the Royal Household, 35
left the service of the king and came thirsting for his most holy
ministry. Many of them ascended with the guidance of the Lord to the
office of bishop amongst whom one, steeped in wisdom and learning,
Teudisclus, built, with God’s aid and that of most blessed Fructuosus,
a famous monastery in a secluded wilderness at the place called the
Camp of the Lion and remained there to the end of his life. 36 And so the
blessed Fructuosus showed himself very dear to the Lord from his birth.
After this, finally spuming the temptations of this world, he gave all his
extensive patrimony to holy churches, his ffeedmen, and the poor. Then
taking himself off to the wilderness he founded very many monasteries
where he dedicated the souls of many monks to the Lord through the
religious life and holy discipline. When he had established a rule of
right living for all who were following the monastic life and had lived
there for a time, to avoid the flocks of people he took himself off to the
remotest wilderness, and endeavoured to hide himself in the thick¬
leaved, secret woods, sometimes lying concealed in the high places,
sometimes in the thickest forests, at others amid crags where only
mountain goats can go, so that he might be seen by divine not human

eyes.

34 This is probably a metaphorical reference, though, given the dangerous nature of North
West Spain in this period, the comment may also be intended literally.

35 The Palatini , composed of the Dukes, Counts, and Gardingi.

36 Castrum Leon is. The site of this monastery remains unknown. Castraveon has been held
out as a possible site, however there is no guarantee that Theudisclus was active in the
same region of the peninsula as his master.

37 cf Gregory the Great, Dial. 2.3. The majority of this chapter is a recapitulation of what
has gone before.

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9 While, with the Lord as his helper, the holy man was leading an
irreproachable life as a hermit, many men often came and painstaking
sought him out, but did not find him. However he was betrayed by
some small black birds, called gragulae by the common people, which
he used to keep in the monastery. 38 Diligently flying over all the woods
until they found him, they betrayed his holy hideout with their
chattering voices to all those looking for him, making its location plain
to everyone. Then all the crowd rushed to the man in great joy. Finally,
as we have said, he often worked many miracles with God’s help and
shone forth by his glorious practice of virtue. Of which holy virtue we
shall now, with God as our helper, speak a little.

10 One day, it is said, a crowd of huntsmen were chasing a doe with
their dogs. The little creature which was already overcome by the length
of the chase, saw its death was nigh on the plains which extended far
and wide in all directions. It was about to be taken by the hounds and
tom limb from limb by their savage bites, when the man of God passed
by unaware of the hunters. The little animal, knowing that it had no
place to flee, as soon as it saw the holy man asked for his protection
and straightaway, as if begging that its life be saved, went under the
man of God’s cloak. 39 He at once defended it from all persecution by
these unjust men, 40 ordered them to call off their dogs, and led it back
with him of its own freewill to the monastery. The creature, so it is
said, became so tame that from this day on wherever he went he was
never able to separate it from his steps. If he even left it for but a short
time, it would endlessly bleat and call out until it saw him once more.
It was so tame that it would often come into his dormitory and lie at his
feet. He frequently ordered it to be set loose in the wood next to the
monastery, but it did not forget the great favour he had done it, and,

38 Jackdaws - the Spanish ‘grajo’. Elijah was obeyed by ravens, 1 Kings 16.6 as was St
Benedict, Gregory the Great, Dial. 2.8.

39 See Sulpicius Severus, Dialogues 2.9 for a very similar incident involving St Martin
and a hare. Martin however is not befriended by the hare after saving it. A further parallel
is provided by Gregory of Tours’ account (VP 2) of St Aemilian of Pionsat’s rescue of
a boar from the attentions of a huntsman.

40 cf Psalm 91. Hunting held a somewhat ambiguous moral position in Visigothic Spain.
The pastime was too popular to be condemned entirely, but it was prohibited to Clerics
at Agade (AD 506).

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spuming the pleasant woods which had reared it, swiftly returned to the
presence of its liberator. 41 This continued to such a degree that if he set
off for anywhere at all it would follow his tracks for the all the length
of the journey until it found him. When this had been going on for a
long time, the fame of the great wonder which was occurring in this
place began to spread far and wide. 42 But the old Enemy when he sees
good men striving towards glory then in his envy carries the wicked off
to punishment. 43 A certain youth filled with the sprit of madness, or
rather inflamed with the fire of envy, killed the little beast by feeding
it to the dogs while the holy man was away. 44 When after a few days
the holy man had returned to the monastery, concerned he asked why
his doe had not come to him in its accustomed manner. He was then
told that when it had gone out and was grazing in the woods, this boy

41 Justinian, Institutes 2.1.5 contains a reference to stags which were tame enough to come
from the woods to ‘visit’ humans and then return. However the bond between Fructuosus
and the doe seems much closer than what is envisaged there.

42 Fructuosus’ befriending of the doe is a sharp contrast to the lions and other ferocious
animals subdued by the Desert Fathers of the East. The animal was notoriously timid; see,
e.g., Virgil, Eel. 8.28 and Apuleius, Met.SA. Isidore, Etym. 12.1.22, derives its name
‘dammula’ from its tendency to flee from man. The creature here demonstrates the
goodness and purity of the saint who is able to win the trust of such a creature (cf the role
of unicorns in medieval literature). It could be argued that a degree of pagan syncretism
is present. Sertorius was given a pet hind by his troops which was given a semi-divine
aura by him (Plutarch, Sert. 11). In the late antique period we have a series of documents
denouncing the Cervolus - a ceremony held at the beginning of the year when people
dressed as stags, see Pacian (/7.360 AD), Paraenesis ch.l (= PL 13 1081-2), and his (now
lost) Cervalus ; Ps.Augustine, Serm 123 (probably written by Caesarius of Arles; Auxerre
(between 573-603 AD); Dict.Abbat.Primin (c.700 AD) ch.22. However the connection is
tenuous. There seems little direct relation between the stags of the Cervolus (in fact
occasionally the rite appears to have involved heifers and been called the betulus) and
Fructuosus’ hind, and 700 years separate Fructuosus and Sertorius, a period which would
make the persistence of even folk religion seem unlikely. The story is utterly Christian in
its message so even if there are pagan antecedents it would be better to speak of the pagan
symbolism being absorbed into a Christian context rather than of syncretism.

43 This sentence is taken from Gregory the Great, Dial. 3.15. This tells the story of
Florentius of Nursia who was befriended by a bear. This bear was then killed out of
jealousy by four monks who in their turn died of leprosy after Florentius cursed them for
what they had done. Florentius, we are told, regretted what he had done for the rest of his
life.

44 Whose dogs these were is not clear. The remainder of the chapter suggests they were
hunting dogs, not ones belonging to the monastery.

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133

had come and killed it. On hearing this, he fell on his knees in great
grief in the presence of the Lord, prostrating himself upon the flags. But
it was God’s will not to delay in inflicting the punishment of the most
severe vengeance of divine majesty. The youth was seized at once by a
grave fever, and soon began to beg Fructuosus through intermediaries
to pray to God on his behalf in order that he should not be struck down
by divine vengeance and so bring his life to a cruel close because of his
wicked temerity. Fructuosus came to him at once, implored the Lord for
mercy, laid his hand upon him and straightaway not only restored his
body to its previous state of health, but at the same time cured the
sicknesses of his soul through his holy prayer.

11 We learnt of another miracle of his great endurance from a reliable
man who told us this story about our blessed subject. One day when
along with the rest of his fellow travellers he was passing through the
lands near the city of Idanha-a-Velha 45 while making for the glorious
city of Merida in the province of Lusitania through his love of the
famed virgin Eulalia - so that there he could might fulfil the holy vows
of his mind with the most sacred devotions of his heart - in order that
when he had poured out his sweet-flowing prayers in the sight of God
and received the results of his petition through the bounteous piety of
the Lord Jesus Christ, he might quickly reach, with the Lord’s
assistance, the island which lies in the territory of Cadiz. 46 But, as we
have said, when he was on that part of his journey which passed
through the lands of Idanha-a-Velha, it happened that all the
companions of the blessed man went ahead of him a little way, 47 while
he stopped in a secluded place in the woods, hidden away in the thick
forests, and prayed a short while. While he lay prostrate in prayer, the
Ancient Enemy, ever envious of all good men, swiftly brought a boorish
countryman possessed by madness to the place where the man of God

45 Ancient Egitania.

46 In fact Fructuosus seems to have gone on a pilgrimage taking in the two provincial
capitals of Merida and Seville before moving on to Cadiz. The island in question is
probably the town of Cadiz itself, now connected to the mainland by a sand bar. Others,
however, believe it to be the Isla de Le6n.

47 From the following chapter, where we hear of Fructuosus’ refusal to travel other than
on foot, this was probably a normal occurrence. Fructuosus’ companions may also have
kept unsuitable individuals from meeting the holy man, cf Nanctus’ entourage in VPE 3.3.

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was praying. When he had seen the man of God from afar, catching
sight of him alone amongst the trees, dressed in poor clothes with
unshod, naked feet, as he had a peasant’s mind he despised him for his
poor clothing and because of his mad rashness drew closer. Thinking
Fructuosus a runaway slave, the peasant abused him with shameless
words and did not delay to insult him with all kinds of vile
expressions. 48 But when the man of God replied to him with a tranquil
mind, ‘I am clearly not a runaway’, the peasant, thinking on the
contrary that he certainly was one, goaded by the impulse of the devil,
struck him a blow with the staff he was carrying in his hands. The man
of God bore this patiently, but the other did not cease from striking him,
so soon he made the sign of the cross to him. At once the demon left
the woodsman and passed into the earth, 49 dashing him prostrate before
the feet of the holy man and wounding him to such a degree in its fury
that after cruelly lacerating him it left him lying in a pool of his own
blood. 50 However, the man of God at once prayed and restored him to
his previous state of health without any difficulty.

12 Now, therefore, we have learnt in truth from the account of the
presbyter Benenatus, a venerable man, of new not ancient wonders, not
of old, but new miracles, not ones worked in idle fables, but ones which
can be proved by the Truth. For this reason we shall try to note them
down briefly in this collection of pages just as they were told to us,
paying every attention to accuracy. This most holy man spoke as
follows: ‘While I was journeying from the province of Lusitania to the
province of Baetica 51 with the most holy Fructuosus, the wet weather
brought forth, as is the custom in winter, great sheets of rain for many

48 Part of the problem might have been Fructuosus’ unkempt appearance. This probably
involved growing his hair long, which was the sign of a slave - see LV 9.1.5 where it is
made an offence to cut a fugitive slave’s hair. There would have been a potential reward
of at least a tremiss for the countryman had Fructuosus been an escaped slave, LV 9.1.14.
The problem of runaways seems to have been a persistent feature of the Visigothic
kingdom. Leovigild legislated on this matter (IF9.1.3) as did many of his successors. See
King [1972] 162 ff.

49 cf the devil’s flight into the depths of the mountains in ch.6 above.

50 Demons characteristically injure their victims when forced from their bodies.

51 The southernmost Roman province in the Iberian peninsula roughly comprising modem
Andalusia and southern Extremadura.

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135

days and the rivers had grown terribly swollen because of the amount
of rain. It happened one day that a small boy while he was trying to
wade across with the rest of his companions, fell along with the horse
which was carrying the books of the man of God, into the deepest part
of the river. For a long time he was swallowed up in the depths of the
whirlpool along with the books. At last with the Lord’s help, he escaped
from the peril of the waters and reached the bank, soaked but safe.
Fructuosus came a little behind them on foot, as it was always his
custom not to use a carriage. When he reached his colleagues, he was
told that all his books had fallen into the river. He, however, was not
at all greatly perturbed, but with a serene and cheerful countenance and
showing no sign of sorrow ordered that they be taken out of their bags
and brought to him. He found them dry as if the river water had never
touched them and had been unable to make them even slightly damp. 52

13 I ought not to bury in silence another wondrous deed which 1 learned
about from Benenatus. One day the blessed Fructuosus set out by boat
from the city of Seville to the Basilica of St Gerontius in order to fulfill
a vow. 53 When with the aid of the Lord he had fulfilled the vows of his

52 We learn that Fructuosus was a great bibliophile from his correspondence with Braulio
of Saragossa (Braulio Ep. 43-44) whom he asked for copies of the Lives of Sts Honoratus
of Arles, German of Auxerre, and Aemilian, and part of Cassian’s Collationes. An English
translation of the letters can be found in Barlow [1969], the Latin text with Spanish
translation in Riesco Terrero [1975]. Braulio died in 651 AD. For a similar miracles see
Gregory of Tours, GC 22 for an incident which happened to Maximus of Chinon when
he fell into the Saone, and Adamnan, Vita Columbani 2.9 for a book written by St
Columban which was undamaged when it fell into a river in Leinster. A general
discussion of such miracles can be found in Loomis [1948].

53 Seville lies on the Guadalquivir, which was navigable as far upstream as Cordoba in
the classical period (Strabo 3.2.3).

The St Gerontius mentioned here is probably the martyr-bishop of Italica for whom
there is an office in the Mozarabic Breviary on the 26th August (PL 86 1198-1200, see
also PL 85 835-836), this saint is also listed in ninth-century martyrology of Lfsuard, PL
124 397-398. Gerontius is described as active in the ‘apostolic’ period in the Breviary , but
this appears to be the pious creation of a pedigree for the church at Italica. Several
commentators have wished to amend the name of the saint concerned; Nock [1946]
prefers Jerome, and Vives [1941] Sta Corona, the sister of St Victor. However, as the
manuscript tradition is unanimous in recording Gerontius, there seems little cause to
amend the reading. Italica itself lies some 6 miles upstream of Seville, which would fit
the description of Fructuosus’ journey found here. The identification is accepted by Gams

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desire there, as evening was drawing on he was inclined to return
whence he had come. The sailors who had navigated the boat over a
great tract of the river 54 were tired from the voyage and not only said
that they did not have the strength to manage the boat, but also began
to complain that the day was already coming to an end. He said to
them. ‘I beg you take a little food as refreshment and since you are tired
rest a little, while I finish my office of prayer. This 1 ask of you, take
up the oars of the vessel and sleep a little while.’ 55 They obeyed at once
and, taking up the oars of the boat as he had instructed, slept. The holy
man prayed and finished the office with his brothers and then with no
man working the boat, but with it being guided solely by the hand of
God, he swiftly returned to where he had set out. The sailors woke
suddenly and began to hurl empty complaints at him, saying, ‘Let us
begin now, because we will not be able to sail safely in the darkness of
the night.’ He said to them in turn, ‘Little children, do not weary
yourselves for the Lord has already taken us whither we wish to be
without your help’. When they roused themselves and saw that they
were at the place from which they had set out, they were astounded and
in their amazement wondered at what God had brought to pass. 56

14 Now he told us another story which he insisted was altogether true,
saying, ‘One Sunday, when there was no end to the storms and rain, the
holy man set out from the city of Seville to the island which lies in the
territory of Cadiz. Many citizens of Seville, even the bishop, wished to
keep him there 57 and wanted him to agree to stay at least until the end
of the mass if not longer as it was Sunday and the weather was not
good. He replied to them as follows: ‘ Do not, 1 beg of you, hold me
back, for the Lord has marked out my journey. If you fear that I may
come to harm and are worried about danger brought on by the rain, you
can rest assured that there will be no more rain today after the second
hour’. 58 And all those who were present saw this come to pass. For after

[1956] vol.l 280ff; Diaz y Diaz [1974] 103 is more sceptical.

54 The word used here, ‘pelagus’, normally means ‘ocean’.

55 The oars were taken up to prevent the theft of the boat.

56 cf Sulpicius Severus, Dial. 3.9 & Gregory of Tours, Mir.MarA.29.

57 Probably Bishop Antony (AD 641-655).

58 The fears about what was merely river navigation are intriguing.

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137

he had embarked on a ship at the second hour, the rain stopped at once
and it did not rain again until after three days later when he arrived at
his destination. During those three days, as he had said, the weather
remained fine. From this we can see that it did not rain at all during the
time that he was sailing towards the goal of his journey.’

When with the Lord’s aid he reached the island of Cadiz that we have
mentioned, he built, with the Lord’s help, a holy monastery on that part
of it opposite to where the Eastern sun casts its light upon Spain, 59 and
created for it through his customary monastic rule the basis of a spiritual
life. 60 Finally in a vast, hidden wilderness far from human habitation he
founded with God’s aid a glorious and outstanding religious house of
remarkable size (which is called Nono as it is nine miles distant from
the sea’s shore). 61 I shall briefly relate a tale which I learned from the
reliable testimony of that devout man, Julian the presbyter, who grew
up in this monastery from his youth. The example of goodness of that
most glorious and incomparable man shining forth with gleaming
splendour so kindled the spirits of the people with love of the faith that
the columns of converts coming in hordes from all over the land formed
a vast chorus. And had not the dukes of the army of that province and
the surrounding regions cried out to the king that there should be some
restraints imposed - for if no bounds to permission to become a monk
had been set, there would have been no one to fight in the army - a

59 i.e. the Western side of the island.

60 A major town in the pre-Roman and Roman period, Cadiz had fallen into decline by
late antiquity, see the lament of Avienus {fl. AD 400) Ora Maritima 267-274. Castro
[1858] records no legends about the town in this period, but merely notes that a hermitess
named Servanda lived here in the time of Egica (AD 687-700). This is presumably a
garbled reference to the abbess Servanda whose tomb ( 1CERV 286) dated to AD 630 was
found at Medina Sidonia and Servandus who, along with Germanus, is one of the patron
saints of the diocese of Cadiz: see Usuard’s Martyrology, PL 123 609-610. Servandus and
Germanus were said to have been martyred c. AD 300 by an official named Viator during
the persecution of Diocletian in the village of Ursino which lay within the diocese of
Cadiz. According to our account, Servandus was buried at Seville alongside the local
martyrs Justa and Rufina and Germanus at Merida by the shrine of Eulalia. There is
however no mention of Germanus in VPE. Cadiz was frequently used as a symbol of the
end of the world in antiquity and it is difficult not to see Fructuosus’ planting of a
monastery here as, at least in part, a symbolic statement that Christianity had reached the
ends of the earth.

61 The monastery’s location is unknown.

138

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

countless army of monks would have gathered together. 62 For not only
the minds of men, but even those of women had been set alight. Now,
as there was no place for women in that sacred congregation, I shall
relate in what way he established a congregation of women. 63

15 A most holy maiden, Benedicta by name, sprung from noble stock
and betrothed to a gardingus of the king, 64 set on fire by her desire for
the faith and inflamed by the love of holy religion, secretly fled from
her parents. Alone she came to the wilderness and wandering through
pathless and unknown places finally with the Lord’s guidance drew near
to the holy congregation of the monastery. Not daring to go up to them,
she remained far off in the wilderness and begged the holy man of God
through intermediaries that he should free a wandering sheep from the
jaws of wolves, show her the path of salvation, set her upon it, and
instruct with his spiritual teachings a soul seeking the Lord, in order that
she might obtain this gift from the Lord who once brought home a
sheep on his shoulders. 65 When he heard this, he gave manifold thanks
to almighty God and ordered a small dwelling place be built for her in
a wood in this same wilderness. 66 Benenatus told me, 4 As none of the

62 A play on this world and the world to come. Monks were exempted from military
service (LV 9.2.8, 9.2.9). Whether the flow of men did pose a potential threat to the size
of the provincial army is a moot point, as the host of maidens mentioned later is only 80
strong, cf The edict of the Emperor Maurice in 592 AD which forbade soldiers to become
monks (edict 110).

63 The Fructuosian Common Rule English translation in Barlow [1969] p.l76ff.) makes
it clear that Monks and Nuns should not live together, (ch.15).

64 The Gardingi were members of the king’s household or palatini. Unlike Dukes and
Counts who ranked higher than them, the Gardingi appear to have been assigned no
specific role in the Kingdom. They appear to have been a form of personal retinue such
as is found throughout the Germanic world and mentioned by Tacitus under the name of
comitatus (Tacitus, Germania 13fT).

Benedicta could have been either a Goth or a Hispano-Roman. Diaz y Diaz [1955]
asserts she was a Goth; however there is no firm evidence for such a view and Orlandis,
while initially of the same view [1966], is now [1992] inclined to think that she was a
Hispano-Roman.

65 cf Luke 15.4-5. The parable here has become part of Christ’s biography.

66 In both the Rule of Compludo and the Common Rule aspirant monks are not to be
admitted to the monastery immediately but wait outside the gates for a period of time (3
days Common Rule , 10 days Rule of Compludo) to show their sincerity. Benedicta’s stay
in the wilderness seems to be a variation on this principle.

THE LIFE OF ST FRUCTUOSUS OF BRAGA

139

older monks dared to go near her, 67 one of us younger ones took it in
turn to take her letters and food. 68 She insisted firmly that no food be
brought to her until the holy man had eaten at midnight and that it
should not be brought unless he had blessed it.’ She applied herself
diligently to her spiritual studies and when news of her and her praise
spread far and wide, so great a flame of desire inflamed the daughters
of other men of all ranks that a glorious host of women swiftly gathered
and in a short space of time the congregation was increased by eighty
holy maidens for whom he built a monastery in his customary manner
in a another solitary place. And so greatly did beneficent sanctity
flourish amongst both sexes and the glorious fame of their perfections
grow, that men along with their sons joined the congregation of monks
and their wives along with their daughters entered the holy company of
women. 69 But fianc£ of the lady Benedicta, despatched by the Enemy’s
work of treacherous envy, weeping in great grief and sorrow, laid a
petition against her before the king. 70 In this way he obtained a judge
of the King’s presence, 71 a Count called Argalate, who was to look into
the truth of the matter between them and who arrived at the maidens’

67 cf the attitude of Nanctus, VPE 3.3.

68 The letters would have been tracts from Fructuosus.

69 The problems caused by this are dealt with by the Common Rule , chapter 6. Parents
and children are not to speak to one another without prior permission, though very young
children are to be allowed to go to their parents when they wish to do so and both parents
are to be involved in their upbringing. When the child can understand ‘a little of the Rule’
its family associations are to end. The women themselves are forbidden to speak to, or
kiss (!) their former husbands, chapter 16.

70 With good reason. Betrothal, disponsatio, in Visigothic Spain involved the payment or
at least the pledge of a substantial bride-price which the gardingus now stood to lose (LV
3.4.2). Unilateral withdrawal from betrothal was forbidden by law (LV 3.1.3, 3.6.3). The
only exceptions to this rule were if the woman was betrothed to a younger man, in fact
such a marriage even if it came about would be invalid in the eyes of the law (LV 3.1.4.),
or if death were imminent, when it was permitted to assume a religious life, (LV 3.6.3.).
This latter exemption may lie at the bottom of the story of Benedicta. Though our
hagiographer represents her as simply confounding her fiancd and winning the support of
the judge, we are told that she died soon afterwards. It may be that the judge annulled the
betrothal because Benedicta was already close to death. For a detailed discussion see King
[1972] 224ff.

71 Argalate would have been a pads Adsertor, i.e. a judge appointed by the king to
oversee a specific case, see LV 2.1.27.

140

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

monastery girt with the King’s authority. The warden 72 of the maidens
was compelled to separate Benedicta from the congregation and bring
her before him to see how she would answer her fiance’s charges. When
after a struggle she came out, lifting her eyes to the heavens, she
absorbed herself in prayer so that she might not look on his face. When
he pressed his case against her, by the grace of the Lord she was so
filled with the Holy Spirit that she cut him short in a few words and he
had nothing left to say to her. Then the judge said, ‘Leave her to serve
the Lord and look for another wife for yourself.’ Soon after these events
pious Godhead commanded this most holy woman to pass from this
world. 73 And so it came about by the ineffable will of the Lord that she,
who had preceded all the holy maidens in their conversion, went before
them in her holy calling to the celestial glory of the heavenly kingdom
through Him who lives and reigns for ever. Amen

16 74 When the blessed Fructuosus, shining forth with bright-flowing
radiance, had brought light to all of Spain through his most glorious
example of holiness, and, by establishing congregations of monks in
diverse regions of the country on the model of his own innocent heart,
had nourished the ranks of perfected disciples, with the result that to
this day those who have just recently been converted, taking up in their
turn their place among the saints who went before, make his example
of olden days flower as if it happened today and so the fruit of his
labour grows until the end of the world, his glorious memory is
perpetually renewed, and in the kingdom of heaven the burgeoning
ranks of his flock increases daily.

72 The criteria for such a monk are dealt with in the Common Rule. They were to be ‘few
and perfect’ and preferably old, having lived in a monastery for most of their lives and
to live far away from the nuns’ living quarters (chapter 16). 2 Seville 11 (AD 619) had
already legislated on these matters providing that only one monk should oversee a
nunnery.

73 This is quite possibly why the betrothal was annulled; see n.68 above. Another
consideration is purely theological. In dying soon after conversion, Benedicta would not
be able to imperil her soul by lapsing into sin, cf. the gluttonous monk of VPE 2.

74 While the sense of this chapter is clear, its syntax is exceptionally convoluted and not
complete in itself. It appears that it has been created by separating it from the following
chapter. While this act in itself was a laudable attempt to make the account more readable,
it has not been executed in the most workmanlike fashion.

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141

17 after he brought all the devotion of his sacred work to the highest
perfection through the aid of celestial virtue, a great fire of divine desire
inflamed him to go to the East and make a new pilgrimage. When he
had discussed this matter in secret with a few, select disciples and had
prepared a boat for their voyage that he might embark with all haste 75
and cross to the East, he was apprehended through the treachery of one
of his disciples and unable to gain permission for his journey. 76 What
more is there to say? While the journey was being prepared, word came
to the king of this world 77 and he, along with all his court advisers,
fearing that such a light should abandon Spain, commanded that he
should be arrested, though with no fear of harm being done to him, and
brought to his presence. They say that one night, when they had brought
him and were keeping guard over him in the utmost fear, they secured

75 reading festinatione for praedestinatione

76 Such travel was forbidden by Chindasvinth’s treason law (LV 2.1.8) which notes the
number of times that the state had been forced to go to war because of the activities of
rejugae or fugitives. See also the preface to 7 Toledo of AD 646 where any cleric of any
rank intending to travel abroad is to be instantly deprived of his rank, made a penitent in
perpetuity, and only given communion at the end of his life. The terms are strong - any
cleric who gave communion to one so punished was to share his fate even if the king had
ordered him to allow the victim to communicate. In the context of his day Fructuosus was
intending to travel to a foreign power which been in occupation of part of Visigothic
territory until AD 624 and with whom relations had never been good. If we are to believe
the interpolation found in manuscript O in chapter 7 but clearly relating to this incident,
his journey was to take him East via Frankish Gaul, another area with which relations
were perpetually poor. While most commentators have seen Fructuosus’ motives as purely
religious, it is easy to see why the King of the day may have been suspicious of such a
journey - hence the need for both speed and secrecy in Fructuosus’ preparations. Nor can
politics be entirely excluded from the equation. The king of the day, either Chindasvinth
or Reccesvinth, belonged to a family which had come to power supported by a faction
hostile to the family of King Sisenand to whom Fructuosus may have been related. If
Fructuosus’ family was indeed based in Septimania a trip to Gaul would have looked even
more suspicious as Sisenand had seized the throne with Frankish aid. Hence perhaps the
violent action of Count Dogila recorded in the interpolation. Added to this is the fact that
at the beginning of his reign in AD 653 Reccesvinth had been forced to put down a
destructive rebellion led by Froia who with help from the Basques had even managed to
lay siege to Saragossa. If this incident occurred soon after it is difficult to see how
Reccesvinth could not have been suspicious of Fructuosus’ motives.

77 Most probably King Reccesvinth, joint King with his father Chindasvinth from AD 649
and sole king AD 653-672. He is described as ‘amiable but debauched’ by the continuator
of HG ch.35.

142

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

the door of the chamber where he was staying with chains, hawsers, and
other stout safeguards and in addition stood guard there themselves.
When they woke in the still silence of the night, they saw from afar the
bars cast aside and the doors lying wide open. Meanwhile Fructuosus,
praying for the holy churches, safely meditated in prayer on the piety
of the Lord. 78

18 After these things, all unwillingly, he was ordained against his will
bishop in the metropolitan seat by the gift of God. 79 He resisted fiercely,
but was compelled to acquiesce through fear of inactivity. 80 On taking
up so high an office he did not lay aside his old way of life, but
keeping to his habit and customary rigorous practice of abstinence he
spent the rest of his life dispensing alms and in the construction of
monasteries. 81

19 While bishop he built the outstanding monastery which lies between
the city of Braga and the convent of Dumio on the crest of a small hill
where his holy body is now buried. 82 I learnt how great was his

78 cf Acts 12.

79 cf VSD 3. Given the severity of the penalty for treason, Fructuosus must have been
acquitted of the charges laid against him. The See referred to here is that of Braga; the
absence of its name in the text is curious. Fructuosus’ appointment is recorded by 10
Toledo 1, giving us a firm date of December AD 656. He replaced the self-confessed
fornicator Potamius. The canon also tells us that prior to this Fructuosus had been
ordained bishop of Dumio. Our hagiographer makes no mention of this fact. The
appointment cannot have been made prior to December AD 653, the date of 8 Toledo , as
Bishop Ricimir held the See at this date. It has been suggested that Fructuosus’
appointment to the See of Dumio occurred early in AD 656 hence Potamius’ demise
meant that Fructuosus held this position for very little time, see Diaz y Diaz [1967].

80 A royal threat probably lies behind this enigmatic phrase.

81 cf VSA 12 & VPE 5.3.3. These monasteries are unknown. One may have been that of
Samos which was restored by Ermefred, a contemporary of Fructuosus and as bishop of
Lugo, one of his suffragan bishops; see Gonzdlez [1967].

82 The Monastery of Mont61ios. The church involved is Sao Fructuoso de Montdlios. Its
cruciform structure is almost unique in the Iberian peninsula and shows strong parallels
with Byzantine architecture; its similarity to the mausoleum of Gallia Placidia at Ravenna
is particularly striking. For a plan and detailed description see Fontaine [ 1978a] vol. 1 163-
167 & pl.s 46-7. The only similar structure may be the Church at Valdecebadar, Olivenza
(Badajoz); however its remains are extremely fragmentary. Fructuosus’ relics were
kidnapped by Bishop Diego Gelmlrez of Santiago in AD 1102, see Carro Otero [1968],

THE LIFE OF ST FRUCTUOSUS OF BRAGA

143

enthusiasm for the holy task of building churches from the account that
man of God, the abbot Cassian, who was his first disciple. He told me
that when Fructuosus had learnt that his holy death was upon him a
good while before its occurrence, since he had undertaken the task of
construction and as his life in this world was coming to its close, not
only did he work unceasingly by day, but persevered in the same task
by lamplight at night lest he should leave this world with his holy task
unfinished. And so with divine help all that he had begun in faith he
diligently brought to a conclusion and happily dedicated it to the Lord.

20 As his end drew on, he was seized by fever and when the violence
of the disease had possessed him for several days, calculating the time
from the day when he had been informed of his death, he discovered
that the day upon which he was to pass from this world was nigh. He
told this to those who were standing by him. While they all wept, he
alone exulted because he knew without a shadow of doubt that he was
hastening to heavenly and eternal glory. To those who asked him if he
feared death he replied, ‘Of course not. For I know that though a sinner
1 shall come into the presence of my Lord.’ 83 After this, he asked to be
taken to the church. When he had put all his affairs in order, he kept
one slave, called Dicentius, who had served him well since he was a
small boy. He ordered him to be summoned, and placing his hand upon
him, and ordained him as abbot of the outstanding monastery of
Toroflo. 84 Finally having received the prescribed rites of penitence, he
did not leave the church, but remained there lying prostrate before the
holy altar all that day and for part of the night. A little before the light
of dawn, stretching out his hands in prayer he commended his stainless
and holy soul to the hands of the Lord who crowns his saints after their
goodly life. 85

83 Perhaps the hagiographer intends his audience to think of Matthew 5.8 at this point

84 The form of ordination is highly irregular, cf Masona’s freeing of church slaves at the
end of his life. Both Diaz y Dfaz [1974] and Orlandis [1968] believe that the monastery
referred to is Montdios not Toroflo. However this emendation has no evidence to support
it.

85 Traditionally Fructuosus’ death day is 16 April 665. A lament for the saint by a
contemporary anonymous disciple has survived = PL 87 1130-1132, poem ‘C\

144

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Appendix

Signs of his virtue came to all who came to the most holy tomb of his
blessed corpse and to this day the sick are cured there and demons put
to flight, and whoever in his grief calls upon Fructuosus’ indefatigable
aid at once receives the full fruits of his petition from the Lord.

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1945 ‘Epigrafia hebraicoespafiola’, Sefarad 5
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1974 ‘Datos para la historia de la Montana en los siglos VII y
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1926 ‘Origen de los himnos mozdrabes’, Bulletin Hispanique 28
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1984 The Dialogues of Gregory the Great in their late antique
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1990 ‘The Portrait of St Eulalia of Merida in Prudentius’
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1928 ‘Mozarabic Melodies’, Speculum 3
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1975 Iglesias hispanicas (siglos IV al VII): testimonios literarios
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1976 A Tribute to Jean Juster - The Legal Condition of the Jews
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1975 Epistolario de San Braulio (Sevilla)

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1948 ‘^,Cisma episcopal en la Iglesia tOledanovisigoda?’,
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1955 ‘Encumbramiento de la sede toledana durante la
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1963 ‘Teologia del episcopado en San Isidoro: problemas que
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1902 ‘Sevilla: teatro de martirio de san Hermanegildo’, Razon y
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INDEX

Index of people and places in the text

Abundantius 39
Adelphius 112

Aemilian, Saint 15-45 passim, 118
Africa 55, 111, 119
Agali 114, 115
Agustus 46

Alcala de Henares 110
Amaia 28

Amalaric, King 111
Anthony, Saint 25, 121
Argalate, Count 139
Armentarius 28
Asellus 40
Asturius 109
Athaloc, Bishop 99
Audentius 109
Augustine 121

Baetica 116, 134
Banonicum 41
Barbara 28
Benedicta 138

Benenatus, presbyter 134, 135, 138
Berceo 22, 25
Bierzo 128
Braga 142

Braulio, Bishop 117, 118
Brunhilda 3,5,7,9,10,13
Buraddn 21
Burgundians 6

Cadiz 113, 136
Camp of the Lion 130
Cantabria 38

161

162

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Cantabrian 30
Caspiana 67
Cassian, abbot 143
Carthaginiensis 107-123 passim
Cauliana 51-55 passim
Celsus 110

Chindasvinth, King 118, 119, 120
Chintila, King 118, 119
Citonatius 15, 16
Cicero - see Tully
Claudius, Duke 94, 96, 97
Columba 31
Compludo 125, 128
Conantius, Bishop 118, 124
Constantinople 121
Cyprian 71, 121

Desiderius, Saint 1-15 passim
Dicentius, abbot 143
Didymus, Bishop 24, 26
Dogila, Duke 129
Domnolus 4,7
Donatus 111
Dracontius 120
Dumio 142

Egypt 123
El Bierzo 124

Eleutherius, archdeacon 100

Ethiopians 70

Eufrasia 41

Eugene I 109, 118

Eugene II 107, 119

Eugene, colleague of Braulio 17

Eugene, Count 30

Eulalia, Saint 46, 51, 56, 60, 64, 66, 68, 71, 73, 74, 75, 80, 84, 88, 90,
95, 97, 100, 102, 104, 105, 133
Eusevia 56

INDEX

163

Faustus, Saint 67
Felix 21, 117

Fidel, Bishop 62-72 passim
Foro 129
Franks 99, 129
Fronimian 15

Fructuosus, Saint 123-145 passim

Galicia 129
Gallaecia 128
Gennadius 107
Gerona 117
Gerontius 15, 16, 20
Gerontius, presbyter 108
Gerontius, Saint 135
Goths 93, 103
Granista, Count 99
Gregory 109
Gregory, Bishop 45
Gregory, Pope 121
Guadiana 54

Gundemar 113, 117, 118

Helladius, Bishop 108, 114, 118
Holy Jerusalem, church 69, 84
Honorius 31, 35

Idanha-a-Velha 133

Innocent, Bishop 103

Isidore, Bishop 107, 109, 116, 121, 123

Jerome 107
Jews 74, 116
John, Bishop 15

John, Bishop of Constantinople 121
John, chronicler 113, 117, 118
Julian, presbyter 137
Julian, Saint 41

164

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Justa 3, 6

Justus, deacon to Helladius 108, 115, 118

Laurence, archdeacon 54, 71

Leander 116

Leo, Pope 111

Leocadia, Saint 121

Leovigild, King 40, 55, 57, 77, 89, 91

Liuva 117

Lucidius, deacon 109
Lucretia, Saint 67
Lugo 129

Lusitania 45-107 passim 133, 134

Martin, Saint 23, 34
Mauretania 97

Masona, Bishop 72-106 passim
Maurice, Emperor 122
Maximus 113

Merida 45-107 passim, 133
Minicea 122
Montanus 108, 110, 111
Mount Dircetius 23
Murilas, Bishop 118

Nanctus, abbot 55
Narbonne 99
Nepopis, priest 86, 89
Nepotian 30
Nonnitus, Bishop 117
Nono 137

Palencia 110, 118
Paul, a Greek doctor 58
Peonense 129
Parpalines 31
Potamia 15, 20
Pratum 42

INDEX

165

Priscillian 111
Proseria 30

Quintilias 50

Reccared, King 91, 96, 97, 98, 99, 117
Reccesvinth, King 120
Rechila, abbot 115
Redemptus, deacon 56, 75, 98
Renovatus, abbot 51, 64, 103
Rome, 121, 123
Rufianum 128

Sagatus 87

Saragossa 113, 117, 118, 119
Sempronius 37
Servitanum 112

Seville 107, 116, 123, 135, 136
Sibila 29
Sicorius 29

Sisebut, King 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118
Sisenand, King 115, 117, 118
Sofronius 15, 20

Suinthila, King 114, 115, 117, 118
Sunna, Bishop 79, 93

Tarazona 24
Teudisclus 130
Theban Fathers 123
Theuderic 3,5,7,9,10,12
Thuribius 37

Toledo 83, 107-123 passim
Toroflo 143
Tulga, King 118, 119
Tully 18

Turibius, Bishop 111

Vagrila 97

166

LIVES OF THE VISIGOTHIC FATHERS

Veranian 50
Vienne 2,7
Vildigem, Count 99
Visigoths 92
Visunia 128

Witteric, King 93, 113, 117, 118

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